Dans la nuit (1930) User Reviews

waking up to an even worse dream

[mjneu59 · 8/10 · 12 November 2010]

The worst nightmares are those which spoil an otherwise perfect dream, and in this silent melodrama the transition between bliss and terror is swift but subtle, coming after a long, leisurely, and remarkably naturalistic opening sequence showing a wedding celebration in a small French mining community. The honeymoon is abruptly shattered when an accident in the mine leaves the groom hideously disfigured, condemning him to a shadowy nocturnal life behind a grotesque half-mask while his young bride, shocked and repelled, seeks comfort in the arms of another man. The difference in mood is, appropriately, like night and day, with the sinister, oppressive second act completely overshadowing the light and open air of the early scenes.

Seen at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, California (in the spring of 1987), with Gaston Modot's 1929 featurette 'Cruel Tale / Torture By Hope', an Inquisition fable with a self-explanatory title. Modot's film resembles an accomplished amateur effort and is therefore less impressive next to Vanel's professional feature; both benefit from the visual emphasis imposed by the silent camera.

Powerful silent drama

[cyril1974 · 20 April 2004]

-Contains some spoilers-

This is the only movie the great French actor Charles Vanel ('The wages of Fear' by H. G. Clouzot) wrote and directed (he also directed a short film 'Affaire classee' in 1931) during his long career (the longest career of any film actor from 1908 to 1988).

A man (played by Vanel) who is working in a mine has recently married a beautiful young woman (Sandra Milovanoff, an actress who have worked with Sacha Guitry and Rene Clair among others). They strongly love each other but everyday they have to live separated because he has to go to work. One day, three children decide to make some tricks nearby the mine. Their 'games' have a very dramatic ending because part of the mine collapse and the man is injured and trapped under the rocks. After the rescue, the man survives but he is completely disfigured to the point that he has to wear a mask when he is in public and even in front of his wife. The happiness he and his wife were living in their everyday life starts to fade.

I've seen this movie only once, more than 10 years ago but I won't forget this powerful and dramatic story. It is probably because the man and his wife are so happy together at the beginning of the movie that their fate appears so unfair. The narration constantly focuses on the human relationship between the man and his wife, their happiness and their sadness, a point of view that make the viewer feel very close to the characters. Based on this review, one can think that it is the most dramatic story ever. Those who have seen the end (that I won't reveal) know that it is a little bit more cheerful and light. Charles Vanel - the director - is definitively an optimist.

Everybody would regret that Charles Vanel didn't direct more movies. With the simple drama 'Dans la nuit', he directed one of the most powerful (and almost forgotten) movie of the silent period. Thank you, Mr. Vanel, for this excellent piece of work. No more words. 10/10.

Face Off

[writers_reign · 19 November 2007]

This is, in short, a revelation. I knew Charles Vanel as a prolific actor in French films who was also fortunate enough to appear in exceptional fare such as La Salaire de la peur, Les Diaboliques and who gave arguably his finest performance in Le Ciel est a vous but back in 1929 he wrote, directed, and starred in this very fine film and the first impression is one of regret that, with the exception of a single short, he never repeated the experiment. For the time his framing is excellent as is his eye for striking angles and he and his Russian-born co-star effortlessly transgress the melodramatic elements in the story of a young couple whose happiness is put in jeopardy when the husband, a quarry worker, suffers an accident that leaves him horribly disfigured. Perhaps understandably for the time Vanel contrives a happy ending but he is to be applauded on all three fronts, writing, directing and acting and movie buffs should seek this one out.

Facing down.

[dbdumonteil · 20 September 2010]

This is the first of the two movies directed by highly talented actor Charles Vanel,and by a wide margin the best ,"Affaires Classées" ,his sophomore effort being a muddled affair .

Made at the end of the silent era ,with subtitles kept to the minimum (I've rarely seen a silent movie so "silent" ,so to speak;these subtitles are actually closer to speech bubbles in comics .

The first part depicts in parallel a wedding and the miners' work.;it's nice to watch but needless to say,it's the second part which sustains the movie ,beating Feuillade at his own game.Without any special effects ,years and years before "Les Yeux Sans Visages" " Seconds " , "Abre Los Ojos " (not to mention its remake " Vanilla Sky") or ,as Writer's Reign smartly hints at it,"Face/ Off" ,Vanel creates a disturbing frightening atmosphere with two masked men ,one of whom was disfigured after an accident;And the final unexpected twist ,at a time when they were not that common,packs a real wallop.