Le Jour Se Leve - 75th Anniversary Edition [1939] [Blu-ray]

Its all a bit foggy and gloomy as Jean Gabin arrives in Le Havre at the outbreak of WW2.He's deserted the army ,and trying to get a boat to South America.His luck changes for the better, when he meets, and falls for Michele Morgan....but whats her father Michel Simon up to ?The extras are informative( especially Ginette Vincendeau's synopsis).The stray dog nearly steals the film.

If you're interested in this film you already know it's a classic, and in this superbly restored edition it's easy to understand why. The black-and-white photography is wonderful, adding hugely to the intensity of the drama. Although the acting is excellent and the studios sets are carefully modelled on real streets and buildings, there is a strange feeling of otherness about the whole thing, like a nightmare being played out in real life. (An approach known as 'poetic realism' according to the accompanying documentary.)The story is a sad one but gripping throughout. The sombre mood reflects the era in which the film was made, shortly before WWII and the Nazi occupation of France. It's interesting to see, among the disc's extras, which scenes the Vichy government chose to cut. The extras also include a short documentary about the painstaking restoration process and a very long one covering just about anything you might want to know about Marcel Carné, Jacques Prévert, all the main actors and the film's place in cinema history. It's excellent, but be warned, it's longer than the film itself!

Excellent film, pity about some of the English subtitles spelling. Considering this is a 75th Anniversary, all-improved and “full length for the first time ever” issue, it’s surprising the English subtitles were produced with mis-spellings of Francois and Francoise. Disappointing.

Excellent movie as many others have said. With regard to the copy, even though this edition has apparently been carefully restored, some parts still look washed out. Perhaps inevitable given the age of the film but I expected more from a BluRay. Oddly, in the English subtitles,'François is consistently shown as 'Franois' and even when he meets Françoise, she is subtitled as 'Franoise'. A problem with cedillas perhaps?

One of the very best pr war French new wave films,very dark with a bleak ending Jean Gabin is his usual top class best and its hard to realise it was made pre W11 it doesnt lose anything to today's cinema highly recommended

The first Great French film I saw when I went to London as a student in 1945, and I have long wanted a copy of my own,especially when therewas a rumour that Hollywood had destroyed all copies. I have not been disappointed.....

Beautifully restored film noir, one of the original ' flashback ' films, hard to believe that this was released in 1935. It comes with lots of extras including deleted scenes by the Vichy government.

A marvelous old movie in a great transfer to Bluray. As always, Jean Gabin is great. Others in the cast are equally impressive. Highly recommended.