Louis Daquin was a unique figure in French cinema, for whom filmmaking and political commitment were one and the same. A member of the Resistance, a staunch communist and union activist heavily involved in defending film industry workers, he considered his craft to be an extension of his convictions. First an assistant to Jean Grémillon, Julien Duvivier and Henri Decoin before wading into directing with Portrait of Innocence (1941), putting his cinema at the service of the blue-collar class and bringing a deeply humanist point of view to the world of labor, collective struggles and individual destinies. From The All Saints’ Day Traveller (1943), adapted from a work by Simenon, to The Opportunists (1960), adapted from Balzac, as well as the masterpiece on the working world, The Mark of the Day (1949), Louis Daquin plunged into the worlds of crime flick, melodrama and social chronicle with a realism grounded in hands-on experience. Long overshadowed by some of his contemporaries, he now distinguishes himself as a figure prime for rediscovery — a French filmmaker for whom commitment, humanism and artistry were synonymous.
Our thanks to Gaumont, FPA Classics, Les Documents cinématographiques, Pathé
In partnership with the INA, which will present
archives certain screenings.
After breaking their school's glass roof, a group of kids come up with ideas on how to pay for the repairs... A refreshing hymn to collective solidarity, this first feature directed by Louis Daquin himself features dialogue penned by Marcel Aymé.
Returning to La Rochelle to settle his uncle's estate, a young man encounters staunch hostility from a powerful group of local heavyweights... A stellar adaptation of Simenon’s work, melding a crime drama with social observations, delivering an acerbic critique of provincial elites, starring Jean Desailly.
A victim of domestic violence, Julie confesses to pushing her husband into the Seine. She narrates her memories, revealing a tragic love triangle... A drama that had wide appeal, the film used a particularly modern flashback technique. Madeleine Robinson, Albert Préjean and Roger Pigaut star.
In a mining town in the North, workers, engineers and families face the realities of daily life together... A powerful saga of the working-class world starring Michel Piccoli and Jean Desailly.
During the Restoration, a former Officer of Napoleon, whose greed knows no bounds, sets his sights on his uncle’s fortune…A captivating adaptation of Balzac’s book La Rabouilleuse (The Black Sheep/The Two Brothers), it employs historical reenactment to draw a portrait of human ambition.
