Catherine (1924)
Directed by Albert Dieudonné, Jean Renoir

Film Review

Jean Renoir, one of the greatest figures in French cinema, began his film-making career with this poignant little melodrama, an obscure film which deserves wider appreciation.   Renoir's multiple talents are revealed by the fact that not only did he co-direct the film, with Albert Dieudonné, but he also co-authored the script and produced it (with money inherited from his father's estate).  He even appears in the film in a minor role (ironically playing the part of a member of the establishment he so enjoyed caricaturising).   Renoir's directing partner, Albert Dieudonné, who also appears in the film, is best remembered as the actor played Napoléon Bonaparte in Abel Gance's 1925 epic film Napoléon .

Although not as polished or as intense as Renoir's later masterpieces, Catherine (or Une vie sans joie) bears many of the features we best associate with Renoir's films - and in some ways it is a prototype for what is to come.  First and foremost, it is a film with great humanity in which people of good and bad character are clearly defined and set against one another.  Renoir's left-wing sympathies are readily apparent in his mocking portrayal of the Bourgeoisie, who are shown to be shallow, manipulative creatures, without soul or the slightest awareness of their cynical hypocrisies.

What is interesting about the film is that it combines elements of what is now termed poetic realism with familiar melodrama.  Two forces determine the destiny of the orphan Catherine - the cruelty and kindness shown by her fellow man, and fickle Fate herself.  In the poetic realist films of the late 1930s, it is mere chance, the luck of the draw,  that ultimately decides the outcome for the films' central characters.  There is more than a hint of that in the film's dizzying final twenty minutes, where events appear to be completely out of the control of mortal man and things appear to be unravelling according to some pre-ordained plan.  It is this tension between the seemingly inevitable and the faint hope that human beings can determine their own destiny which makes the stunningly filmed final part of the film almost unbearably suspenseful.

A compelling and underrated work, Catherine delights mainly through its imaginative and varied photography.  There is more than a hint of German expressionism in the way lighting is used to draw out emotion and emphasise disaster.  In the exterior location work, the ordinary everyday experience of working class people is strikingly redolent of neo-realism.  And the nail-biting ending looks as if it may have been filmed by Hitchcock when at the height of his powers.

The only thing that definitely mars the film is Renoir's decision to cast his wife, Catherine Hessling, in the leading part - an error of judgement which would blight many of the his subsequent films.  Neither beautiful, young nor particularly talented as an actress, Hessling fails to be convincing as a lonely orphan girl and so it is a struggle for the spectator to sympathise with her character.  Fortunately, the skilful photography and calibre of acting elsewhere compensates for the failings of its lead actress and, in the end, Hessling's charms do just manage to win through.

Admittedly, the plot of Catherine does now appear a tad unsophisticated, geared no doubt to the insatiable taste for melodrama at the time.  However, its realisation (by two inexperienced filmmakers) shows genuine flair for innovation and great technical competence.  Overall, the film makes an impressive beginning for Jean Renoir, the man who was destined to be one of the leading figures in cinema history.  Meanwhile, his fellow director Albert Dieudonné would have to content himself with playing the most famous part in French cinema history.

Film Synopsis

In the provincial town of Varance, Catherine Ferrand, an orphan, is employed as housemaid to Georges Mallet, a prominent local councillor.  Mallet's wife, a sour vindictive woman, turns against Catherine and has her dismissed.  Fortunately, Mallet finds a place for Catherine with his sister, Madame Laisné, who lives in Nice with her chronically ill and depressed son, Maurice.  During the Nice carnival, Catherine dances with Maurice.  Both appear to have found happiness - but then Maurice suddenly dies.  To avoid a scandal, Catherine is dismissed again and she ends up in the clutches of an unscrupulous pimp, Adolphe.  On her return to Varance, Catherine is unable to find work, thanks to the efforts of her mortal enemy Madame Mallet.  Georges Mallet takes pity on Catherine and engages her to work as his secretary, prompting his wife to leave him.  Mallet's political rivals use this news to blacken his name and thereby prevent him from winning the next local election.  When she hears of this, Catherine runs away.  Desolate, she sleeps in an abandoned tramcar.  When she awakes, the tramcar is in motion and she realises that the tram is hurtling inexorably towards a mountain precipice.   Unable to go on living a life without joy, Catherine accepts her fate with resignation...