"La Bete Humaine"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the author Emile Zola attempted to use his novel "La Bete Humaine" to provide a window upon a perverse society through a narrative about an individual whose desires have become perverse because of social oppression. It examines how, when the director Jean Renoir chose to dramatize this particular film in 1938, Zola's original intent, perhaps invariably, was slanted in favor of the sensationalistic narrative rather than his realistic analysis of the class-bound French social system. It looks at how this may be partially ascribed to the particular ideological nature of the filmmaking process of the turbulent era of French history in which Renoir dwelled. It analyzes how the film differs most substantively from the original novel because of its focus upon the central character, rather than upon the particular reasons for the existence of the outside forces surrounding and pressuring the main character Jacques.

From the Paper:

"However, Renoir's reasons for slanting the plot appear to be more complex. The crime novel aspect of La Bete Humaine also ideally called forth Renoir's ability to use the visual techniques of film noir, creating striking dark and light visions that the train setting of the plot seemed uniquely suited to. Given Renoir's previous ideological stance in many of his earlier films, this might strike an historian of French cinema as rather curious. However, in this case, the director, in the words of film critic Richard Roud, seemed more interested in "playing with trains," than playing with politics. In other words, the artist over the ideologue in Renoir won out. The director's fascination with the cinematic medium's ability to portray and render light and dark was more forceful than his devotion to a social cause."

More papers on "La Bete Humaine":

• Analytical Essay # 29366 : "Zola"
• Analytical Essay # 23896 : "Emile Zola"
• Essay # 2916 : "John Rieker's Film, "La Ciudad"

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