L'Atalante (1934)

Jean Vigo’s one and only feature length film is nearly ninety years old, and I doubt there’s anyone questioning its importance today. Vigo sadly died shortly after its release at the age of just twenty-nine and robbed the cinema going world of where he would go from his magnificent debut. Juliette and Jean (a barge captain) set off on their honeymoon aboard L’Atalante, Jean’s craft, accompanied by the crew; eccentric and lovable Pere Jules, and the cabin boy. L’Atalante is a story about love and its trials and tribulations of course, but it’s so much more than that. At times highly amusing (usually down to Pere and his antics) as well as melancholic, it remains one of the all time greats; Vigo brings us aboard the L’Atalante, and we feel the murky and cramped confinement of what’s supposed to be a celebration of marriage but descends into a questioning of everything the couple believe to be true. Often dreamlike, L’Atalante offers a wonderful passage of unforgettable cinema, and it’s never anything but a joy to revisit this true great. 8.2/10