La Vie de bohème (1945)
Directed by Marcel L'Herbier

Film Review

La Vie de bohème is one of the grandest film adaptations of Henry Murger's 1851 collection of short stories Scènes de la vie de bohème, which had previously provided the material for Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera La Bohème.  There had been three notable film adaptations before this, the first by Albert Capellani in 1916 (La Bohème), followed by the famous 1926 MGM silent version (also titled La Bohème), directed by King Vidor and starring Lilian Gish and John Gilbert.  Paul Stein later directed a British version, Mimi (1935), with Gertrude Lawrence and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.  This 1940s French adaptation was directed by Marcel L'Herbier, one of the great avant-garde filmmakers of the silent era who struggled with the transition to sound and ended up making crowd-pleasing melodramas such as this.

The film was recorded in 1942 at the Victorine studios in Nice.  It was a lavish production, having the resources to rival those of Marcel Carné's subsequent Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), and it was clearly one of the most ambitious film productions to have been mounted in France during the Occupation.  (The Nazis were great believers in Bread and Circuses - homemade cinema provided a highly effective distraction from the travails of Occupation, and therefore worth supporting).  The film's release was delayed and it did not reach the cinema screens until after the Liberation, in 1945.

As befits a blockbuster production, the film boasts a presigious cast.  María Denis, one of the most popular and photogenic actresses of the 1930s and 40s, is a perfect choice for the role of the delicate heroine Mimi and she imbues the part with genuine feeling, to the extent that we are compelled to share her lover's anguish when Mimi's cruel destiny becomes apparent.  Playing opposite her is a young Louis Jourdan, a rising star who was set to become one of the most sought after French matinee idols of his era (and not only in France).  The distinguished supporting cast includes some of the finest French character actors of the period - Louis Salou, Roger Blin and Alfred Adam, not forgetting the radiant Suzy Delair in a typically lively role.

During the Occupation, it was not uncommon for French film directors and screenwriters to include covert anti-Nazi, pro-Resistance messages in their films.  It was easier to do this on period films such as La Vie de bohème than on a contemporary drama, because the allusions were much harder for the German censors to spot.   In La Vie de bohème, the artists' relentless struggle against poverty (which ultimately leads them to make extraordinary personal sacrifices in an attempt to save the dying Mimi) is a thinly veiled appeal to the French nation to resist the Nazi oppressor, whilst the street procession sequences which dominate the early part of the film carry a palpable spirit of republican defiance and nationalistic fervour.

Of the films that Marcel L'Herbier made towards the end of his career, La Vie de bohème is easily one of the most poetic and visually striking.  Whilst it does not have anything like the innovative flair of his early films, it does occasionally sparkle with moments of artistic brilliance.  The camera roves about the elaborate period sets with almost as much grace and agility as in Max Ophüls' Madame de... (1953), evoking the carefree exuberance of youth.  Meanwhile, the exquisite chiaroscuro lighting eloquently reflects the changing moods of the protagonists and lends the film an enchanting lustrous quality.  The most memorable sequence is a romantic promenade in a misty studio recreation of the Jardin du Luxembourg, a hauntingly dreamlike interlude that is beautifully evocative of young love whilst subtly hinting at the tragedy to come.  Music from Puccini's opera is effectively incorporated into the film, adding greatly to its charm and poetry.  The film is not L'Herbier's greatest, but it does have considerable artistry and should be considered one his last great achievements.

Film Synopsis

Paris in the 1840s.  Schaunard, Colline, Marcel and Rodolphe are four young artists who are determined to make a name for themselves.  As their financial resources dwindle, they are forced to live the Bohemian life, sharing a cheap apartment in the populous Latin Quarter of the city.  Rodolphe, the poet of the group, falls in love with Mimi, a young woman who makes artificial flowers.  For a time, Rodolphe and Mimi enjoy the perfect romantic idyll, but then Mimi realises that by devoting himself to her Rodolphe risks ruining his career.  Selflessly, Mimi leaves her lover and takes up with an insensitive young viscount.  When she becomes ill, Mimi returns to her former lodgings and, knowing that her time is short, makes up her mind to see Rodolphe one last time...