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Features: DVD, Aspect Ratio 1.33:1, Black & White, Mono Audio, English, Subtitled
Editor's Note
In an oeuvre permeated with ambivalence toward bourgeois life, director Jean Renoir speculates on the result of the abandonment of those values in BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING. Producer Michel Simon stars as Boudu, a vagabond who attempts suicide by throwing himself into the Seine, grieving over the loss of his dog. But Eduaord Lestingois (Charles Granval), a humane bookseller, rescues him and takes him into his home, hoping to reform the shaggy bum. Shortly thereafter, anarchy reigns as the household is turned upside down by the antics of this large three-year-old. Spitting in first editions, using silken sheets to polish his shoes, sleeping in the hallway, and similar breaches of etiquette do little to endear Boudu to Lestingois. However, once Boudu has had a bath and shave in order to please the maid, Mrs. Lestingois (Marcelle Hainia) becomes surprisingly responsive to his overtures. The maid (Severine Lerczinska), who is Lestingois's mistress, also seems to feel the tramp's mysterious charm. Lestingois, an exemplary bourgeois, now has more than one reason to envy the man he saved from drowning. Among Renoir's finest films, this sharp-eyed take on the paradox of bourgeois liberalism includes stunning photography of Paris in the 1930s and a legendary comic performance by Michel Simon.
Plot Summary
Jean Renoir's anarchic comedy BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING stars Michel Simon as Boudu, a self-serving bum. When Boudu jumps into the Seine to end it all, he's saved from drowning by Edouard Lestingois, a bourgeois book dealer. Lestingois takes the shaggy tramp into his house hoping to help him, and Boudu returns the favor by turning his well-ordered home upside down and conducting affairs with his wife and his maid. He even manages to win the lottery, but to no avail.
| Features | Region 1 | | Keep Case | | Full Frame - 1.33 | | Audio:
| Dolby Digital Mono - French |
| | Additional Release Material:
| Featurette - 1. Excerpts For A CINEASTRE DE NOTRE TEMPS Program featuring Michel Simon And Jean Renoir | | Video Interview - 1. Jean-Pierre Gorin - Filmmaker | | 2. Archival Interview With Eric Rohmer |
| | Interactive Features:
| Interactive Map Of 1930's Paris Featuring Locations From The Film |
| | Text/Photo Galleries:
| Essay By Renoir Scholar Christopher Faulkner. |
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| Technical Info
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Release Information
|  | Studio: Home Vision/Public Media |
| Release Date: 8/23/2005 |
| Running Time: 84 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1932 | | Catalog ID: 030 | | UPC: 00037429207925 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: French | | Available Audio Tracks: French | | Video: B&W |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"BOUDU seems an inexhaustible film, a nexus of political, philosophical and spiritual themes that reveals new meanings and fresh pleasures with each viewing." 08/23/2005 p.E3Premiere
"Director Jean Renoir's comedy of bad manners is a truly essential classic..." 10/01/2005 p.130 |
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