Nana (1955) User Reviews

Much better if you understand the context and purpose of the story.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 7 May 2015]

Following the easy defeat of the French by the Prussians in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, there were lots of recriminations on the government of Napoleon III. Many, such as the writer Emil Zola, saw it the result of over-confidence and decadence--and his story "Nana" was meant as a biting indictment against his society and government. However, most of this is missing in this 1955 version of the story-- one that looks nice but lacks the satire and underlying bite.

Nana is a stage actress of questionable talent. Nevertheless, she is a huge hit and the men of Paris adore her. While the film is a bit vague here, she clearly was a prostitute--working her way up from the streets to becoming the mistress of the rich and powerful. The story focuses mostly on a government minister, the Count Muffat (Charles Boyer) and his infatuation with this 'lady'. So, although Muffat is a champion of traditional values and family, under the influence of Nana, he's a hypocrite and libertine. And, during the course of his fling with Nana, you see that every man who comes under her spell is somehow ruined.

The obvious meanings in the story, as I said, are lost here in the film. It's a film about an alluring, selfish and amoral woman and not much more. As such, it is entertaining and looks quite nice but lacks the depth of the original tale. Good but nothing much more.

Now I understand why the Nouvelle Vague was so necessary.

[Naneaux · 6/10 · 6 May 2005]

I waited a long time to see this adaptation of Zola's famous novel but was really disappointed by the slow pace, the stilted dialogue (badly subtitled as well, in the VHS tape I saw) and the unimaginative camera work. It's pretty clear that this is precisely the type of post-WWII studio film against which Truffaut and Godard rebelled. And thank God they did, because their work is so much more interesting than period potboilers like this one. Martine Carol is vivacious and charming, but with limited acting ability. To be fair, "Nana" is the type of actress who is renowned for her fabulous body and her bold display thereof, rather than for any kind of musical or dramatic skills. (Sound familiar, Hollywood?) Also, as a plus, the film is very frank about how Nana earns a living outside of her stage appearances, and how her entourage skims off her fees by providing either information or access. I found this candor refreshing since most Hollywood movies of this era are very coy about whoring. Think about the presentation of Jo Van Fleet in "East of Eden," for example. Charles Boyer plays the male lead here, a hypocritical aristocrat in the Emperor's employ, but it's an unsatisfying part. It's all about "Nana," and in the end, being the selfish little baggage she is, she would prefer it that way.

The Word On The Street Girl

[writers_reign · 6/10 · 8 December 2012]

One sure-fire way of categorizing a new acquaintance is to slip the word 'Nana' casually into a conversation on Literature. If the person associates it with a large dog, a member of the Darling household in 'Peter Pan' he is she is clearly an intellectual and worthy of a second date; if on the other hand the knee-jerk response is to a novel by Emile Zola then the person is a pretentious snob and needs to be cut off at the ankles. Apart from Christian Jacque himself two heavy-hitters from the ranks of French screenwriters, Henri Jeanson and Albert Valentin worked on this adaptation which quite possibly came about when Jacque was seeking another vehicle for his then wife, Martine Carol. No one ever accused Ms Carol of being an actress of the first rank and I certainly would not be the first to set a precedent but given the right material - as she was in Wolf Farm for example - she was quite capable of holding her own with the likes of Paul Meurisse and I for one much preferred Carol to the starlet who usurped her as the poster girl for French cinema in fact I am arguably one of a very few heterosexual males who still wonders what all the fuss was about in the case of Brigitte Bardot. The few (I think it is three) posters who have filed reports here on IMDb were all disappointed and all seemed to hold it personally responsible for the rise of the petulant schoolboys Truffaut and Godard. I certainly don't claim this version of Nana is a masterpiece but it's still light years ahead of flotsam deposited on the shore of French Cinema by the new wavelet.

nice

[Kirpianuscus · 10 May 2021]

A nice adaptation of one of great novels of Emil Zola. The only problem - it is an easy adaptation , giving only the portrait of a too selfish courtisan and not more. Sure, few virtues , from the portrait of Napoleon III by Jean Debucourt to the Elisa Ceggani or Marguerite Pierry. Charles Boyer and Martine Carol are real good in the lead roles but, after its end, it seems in too little measure a Zola . So, just nice.

Gorgeous veneer of Nana

[Poppysma · 7/10 · 15 January 2022]

This is definitely a fun film to look at: fantastic colour, sets and costumes, and the powdery, lipsticky glamour of 35-year-old Martine Carol, a blonde like Zola's Nana, but now sporting the red hair. She is, of course, too old for the role - in the novel Nana, like the Second Empire, is a filthy pubescent trollop, decadent and parasitic fly. To mis(quote) Hugo: in short, 15 years!

Eventually she dies in smallpox, her moral rot now the physical one, too.

Zola? Maybe not.

nice but soft

[pierrealix · 4/10 · 10 May 2001]

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Christian-Jacq offered his wife Martine Carol to play the Famous Prostitute of Zola Novel..It is true that those women (called "les Cocottes")really existed in the Gay Paris of the late 19th century .Some of them like Emmanuelle d'Alençon,Liane de Pougy or la belle Otero destroyed very wealthy tycons and pushed some of them to suicide..but they hardly looked like Martine carol who's just nice funny and gentle...and certainly not a deadly "femme fatale"..Sadly the end of the movie showing nana strangled by Muffat is really stupid..in the novel Nana is killed by syphilis.