Manon

media release: France | 1949 | DCP | 100 min. | French with English subtitles

Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot

Cast: Cécile Aubry, Michel Auclair, Serge Reggiani

This adaptation of Prévost's 1731 novel Manon Lescaut (which also inspired Puccini’s opera) is an early masterpiece for Clouzot, best known for The Wages of Fear and Diabolique. Reset during World War II and a few years after the war, the story of obsessive love follows Manon (Aubry), a village girl accused of collaborating with the Nazis who is rescued from imminent execution by a former French Resistance fighter (Auclair). The couple move to Paris, but their relationship turns stormy as they struggle to survive, resorting to profiteering, prostitution, and even murder. The stunning conclusion finds the protagonists in Palestine during the establishment of the State of Israel. Winner, Golden Lion, 1949 Venice Film Festival.

Admission free for all screenings, seating limited. No admission 15 minutes after scheduled start times. Please visit our website for a complete listing of programs and descriptions.

NEW FRENCH RESTORATIONS: Beginning with the Lumieres and the origins of motion pictures more than 130 years ago, France has remained one of the world’s leading contributors to the art of cinema. From January through April, the Cinematheque will present six French feature films, all shown in new digital restorations, that cover nearly sixty years of French cinema history, from the 1930s to the 1990s. The lineup begins with a weird and fascinating psychological thriller unknown to most American audiences, Paul Vecchiali’s The Strangler. Plus, Manon, an Henri-Georges Clouzot masterpiece made before the director’s The Wages of Fear and Diabolique; Jeunet and Caro’s cult classic, Delicatessen; Godard’s futuristic mind-melter Alphaville; and Lady Killer & The Strange Mr. Victor, two late 1930s gems by the great Jean Grémillon, subject of a 2015 Cinematheque series.