France at War (“La France Se Bat et se Débat”):
TWO FREE SCREENINGS at the TIVOLI THEATER March 20 and 21
Wednesday & Thursday, March 20-21, two classic films.
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WEDNESDAY MARCH 20: Marcel Carné’s Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise) – 1945.
A masterpiece of French cinema, Les Enfants is set in the 1840s but was filmed during the Nazi occupation and included members of the Resistance among its 1,800 extras.
—> Observe Baptiste Debureau, the great mime, as portrayed with fragile tenacity by Jean-Louis Barrault in one of the most memorable performances of his life – and not far behind, Étienne Decroux, Barrault’s master teacher (and Marcel Marceau’s), playing Anselme Debureau, the older Debureau.
FYI – an opera ballet, “Les Enfants du Paradis”, was created in 2008.
THURSDAY MARCH 21: Louis Malle’s Au Revoir les Enfants (Goodbye, Children). Released in 1987, this haunting autobiographical tale centers on the friendship of two boys, one of whom is Jewish, at a Catholic boarding school in 1944.
—> Observe Louis Malle, the noted French filmmaker, reveal his childhood memory which parallels France’s hidden memories of WWII.
Screenings are free and open to the public and begin at 7 p.m. at the Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Blvd in University City.
