Le Père tranquille (1946)
Directed by René Clément, Noël-Noël

Film Review

When he met the legendary Jacques Tati in 1934, the doors of the film business were suddenly thrust open for future director René Clément.  The latter began his career proper with La Bataille du rail, a semi-documentary about one of Clément's favourite themes - the resistance in WWII.  This film won the International Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1946.  April of that same year saw the release of another notable film by Clément - Le Père tranquille, another wartime piece, based on a true story that took place in the Moselle department of France. 

In fact, Clément was only the technical director on this film; he left the writing and actual filming to the film's real author, the actor Noël-Noël, who even designed the original film poster.  In the film, Noël-Noël plays, with great sincerity, one of the best parts of his career - a quiet father who leads a double-life as a resistance chief.  The creditable supporting cast includes such talented performers as Nadine Alari, Claire Olivier, José Arthur, Paul Frankeur, Howard Vernon and Jo Dest.

Filmed just after the war, Le Père tranquille is a very patriotic film, with an atmosphere that is close to the poetic realist tradition of the 1930s.  The film was criticised for its optimistic tone, although those who attacked Clément for his apparent naivety may have been surprised by the director's superior film Les Maudits (1947), which features a collaborationist journalist.

Later, in 1962, René Clément will revisit the subject of French collaborators in his film Le Jour et l'heure.  After this, it would be ten years before Marcel Ophüls made his Le Chagrin et la pitié (1969), which showed that not all French people were heroes.  Even Louis Malle jumped on to the bandwagon with his Lacombe Lucien (1974), the hero of which was a collaborator.  Both of these films met with a tumultuous reception. 

Even if Le Père tranquille was a popular success, it has to be said that, even by the standards of its time, some of the dialogue and filming are a little weak.  Despite this, the film has some attractive qualities which Clément would develop in his subsequent films, such as Au-delà des grilles (winner of the Best Director award at the 1949 Cannes Film Festival) and his fabulous popular success Jeux interdits (winner of the Golden Lion at the 1952 Venice Film Festival).

Film Synopsis

Monsieur Martin is a contented man who lives a peaceful existence in the small French town of Moisson with his wife and two children, Monique and Pierre.  So calm is Martin that, even in this period of German occupation, his neighbours have nicknamed him "the quiet father".  He spends much of his time attending to his fabulous collection of orchids, which even the German soldiers come to admire.  In reality, Martin is leading a double life.  Secretly, he is one of the most important resistance leaders in the area.  Unaware of his father's activities, Pierre becomes frustrated by his apparent passivity and makes it known that he intends to join the resistance.  By contrast, Monique has been able to read the signs and deduces that her father is an active member of the resistance.  Monsieur Martin has learned that the Allies intend to bomb an oil depot in the town.  He now needs his daughter's help if he is to save the townsfolk without alerting the Germans...