A Nous la Liberté

International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers, (2000) by Liam O'Leary

A NOUS LA LIBERTÉ

France, 1931

Director: René Clair

Production: Tobis (Paris) and Filmsonor; black and white, 35mm, musical soundtrack with sound effects; running time: 97 minutes. Released 31 December 1931. Filmed 1931 in Tobis studios and around Paris.

Producer: Frank Clifford; screenplay: René Clair; photography: Georges Périnal; editor: René le Hénaff; sound: Hermann Storr; art director: Lazare Meerson; music: Georges Auric; musical director: Armand Bernard; costume designer: René Hubert; assistant director: Albert Valentin.

Cast: Henri Marchand ( Emile ); Raymond Cordy ( Louis ); Rolla France ( Jeanne ); Paul Ollivier ( Paul Imaque, Jeanne's uncle ); Jacques Shelly ( Paul ); André Michaud ( Foreman ); Germaine Aussey ( Maud, Louis's mistress ); Alexandre d'Arcy ( Gigolo ); William Burke ( Leader of the gangsters ); Vincent Hyspa ( Speaker ); Léon Lorin ( Fussy official ).

Publications

Scripts:

Clair, René, A nous la liberté in L'Avant-Scène du Cinéma (Paris), November 1968.

A Nous La Liberté and Entr'Acte: Films by René Clair , New York, 1970.

Books:

Viazzi, G., René Clair , Milan, 1946.

Bourgeois, J., René Clair , Geneva, 1949.

A nous la liberté

Charensol, Georges, and Roger Régent, Un Maître du cinéma: René Clair , Paris, 1952.

Solmi, A., Tre maestri del cinema , Milan, 1956.

De La Roche, Catherine, René Clair: An Index , London, 1958.

Amengual, Barthélemy, René Clair , Paris, 1963; revised edition, 1969.

Mitry, Jean, René Clair , Paris, 1969.

Samuels, Charles, Encountering Directors , New York, 1972.

McGerr, Celia, René Clair , Boston, 1980.

Barrot, Olivier, René Clair; ou, Le Temps mesuré , Renens, Switzerland, 1985.

Greene, Naomi, René Clair: A Guide to References and Resources , Boston, 1985.

Dale, R. C., The Films of René Clair , Metuchen, New Jersey, 2 vols., 1986.

Articles:

Potamkin, Harry, "René Clair and Film Humor," in Hound and Horn (New York), October-December 1932.

Causton, Bernard, "A Conversation with René Clair," in Sight and Sound (London), Winter 1932–33.

Jacobs, Lewis, "The Films of René Clair," in New Theatre (New York), February 1936.

"Clair Issue" of Bianco e Nero (Rome), August-September 1951.

Connor, Edward, and Edward Jablonski, in Films in Review (New York), November 1954.

Tallmer, Jerry, in Village Voice (New York), 16 November 1955.

Ford, Charles, "Cinema's First Immortal," in Films in Review (New York), November 1960.

Berti, V., "L'arte del comico in René Clair," in Bianco e Nero (Rome), March-April 1968.

Baxter, John, "A Conversation with René Clair," in Focus on Film (London), Winter 1972.

Pym, John, in Monthly Film Bulletin (London), October 1977.

Kramer, S. P., "René Clair: Situation and Sensibility in A nous la liberté ," in Literature/Film Quarterly (Salisbury, Maryland), vol. 12, no. 2, 1984.

* * *

Two companions of a jail-break are the protagonists of this musical comedy. One, played with eccentric sympathy by Raymond Cordy, is clever and successful and quickly rises in the world of industry. The other, played by Henri Marchand, wanders innocently throughout the film, willing to accept the unexpected. Even the joy of his escape from prison arises from a potentially tragic situation. His courtship is as artless as everything else he does.

Employing the talents of the brilliant art director Lazare Meerson, Clair uses the vast industrial complex to its fullest until it becomes a fun palace with plenty of room for chases and horseplay. Even the building is deflated. The joyful and carefree music of Georges Auric carries the film along, while Georges Périnal's camera exploits the large white surfaces of the super-factory and the brightness of the walls.

But it is not the technical excellence of the film which remains in one's mind. It is the puncturing of pomposity, the rejection of dehumanizing technical processes, the statement of essential human values and an appreciation of the incongruities of human existence. It is a far cry from the world of Le Chapeau de paille d'Italie , but the child-like delight in the demolition of the pretentious in Clair is common to both films. Not for him the sighs of high romance or the exaggerations of grand opera. His heart is always with ordinary people and their simple predicaments. He sees the world through the eyes of the characters Louis and Emile. Maybe his idea of Utopia is naive and impractical but it is an ideal which has been thought of by many people. In an age of mass regimentation and super-states it remains a recurring vision.