L’ATALANTE

Director: Jean Vigo

1934, France, 89

Screenwriter: Jean Vigo and Albert Rièra, based on a story by Jean Guinèe.

Cast: Michel Simon, Dita Parlo, Jean Dastè, Louis Lefebvre.

 

Perhaps the greatest loss in cinema is the death of Jean Vigo, who died age 29 after making only one full-length film. L’Atalante, however, turned out to be one of the art’s greatest gifts. Cinestudio presents the indelible 4K restoration of the full version of Vigo’s life’s work: a look at the ups and downs of a newlywed couple living on the outskirts of society. Vigo brilliantly mixes unvarnished reality with expressionistic imagery, to capture the lives of a restless country girl (Dita Parlo) who is trying to make a life with a stubbornly independent man (Jean Dastè), whose closest companions are a crusty sailor (Michel Simon) and (at least 9) stray cats.

“You’ll see in every image, every frame, a transcendent love and passion of filmmaking itself.” – Martin Scorsese, introducing the new 4k restoration in Bologna.