Maria Chapdelaine *** (1934, Madeleine Renaud, Jean Gabin, Suzanne Desprès, Gaby Triquet) – Classic Movie Review 10,928

Director Julien Duvivier’s 1934 classic romance Maria Chapdelaine [The Naked Heart] is based on the classic French-Canadian novel by Louis Hémon, and stars Madeleine Renaud and Jean Gabin.

It is a compelling love story set and filmed against magnificent French Canadian snowy backdrops, with a stirring performance by Madeleine Renaud as Maria Chapdelaine, a heartbroken young woman  living with her family on the Quebec frontier, whose mother and fur-trapper lover, François Paradis (Jean Gabin), are both victims of the icy chills of the Canadian wilderness winter.

Duvivier directs with great feeling in the then fashionable style of 30s French poetic realism.

Winner of the Grand Prix du Cinéma Français 1934.

Other versions in 1950 and 1983, with a new one in 2021.

Also in the cast are Suzanne Desprès, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Alexandre Rignault, André Bacqué, Emile Genevois, Gustave Hamilton, Robert Le Vigan, Gaby Triquet, Maximilienne Max, Daniel Mendaille, and Thomy Bourdelle.

Maria Chapdelaine [The Naked Heart] is directed by Julien Duvivier, runs 120 minutes, Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie, is released by Pathé Consortium Cinéma (1934) (France) France Films (1935) (US), is written by Julien Duvivier and Gabriel Boissy, is shot in black and white by George Périnal, is produced by Julien Duvivier and scored by Jean Wiener.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,928

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