VISAGES D’ENFANTS

JACQUES FEYDER, FRANCE, 1925 Screening: Thursday 19th April, 7pm boy.

CAST As with the use of the Montmartrois street life in Feyder’s other 1920s masterpiece, Crainquebille (1922), the Swiss alpine Jean Forest ... community which with Visages d’Enfants is set plays an integral role in the film’s nar- Jean Amsler, der Sohn rative. Originally called Mont Saint-Bernard Victor Vina ... after the mountain towering over the val- ley of Entremont in which the film is set, Pierre Amsler, der Vater the landscape’s desolation and blankness is Pierrette Houyez ... Images courtesy of bfi, Stills, Posters and used metaphorically within the film to Designs convey the feelings of Jean as he comes to Pierrette Amsler, die terms with the death of his mother. The Visages d’Enfants is a masterpiece of silent Tochter camerawork also replicates the unsteady cinema directed by Jacques Feyder, who is contours of the landscape; there is a par- Jeanne Marie-Laurent ... considered by many to be the father of ticular shot, halfway through the film, French poetic realism. Feyder was actually La domestique where a high-angle point-of-view shot is Belgian, and Visages d’Enfants was shot us- used to convey Jean’s sense of estrange- Rachel Devirys ... ing a French crew in the Swiss valleys of ment from his family, echoing the peaks the Entremont and Anniviers. The film, and troughs of the Swiss valleys and their Jeanne Dutois, zweite upon its release, was considered a failure. isolated communities. Frau Amslers Too progressive for its time, it failed to make an impact in the European film mar- Jacques Feyder had a long and varied ca- kets, but a print was later rediscovered reer in filmmaking. He began by making a and restored by the Netherlands Film Mu- series of short films in France, during the seum in 1985, and the film is now consid- First World War, before moving into fea- ered a central, canonical text. tures with L’Atlantide in 1921. Visages d’En- fants is Feyder fifth feature film; he would The film stars Jean Forest as a young boy go on to continue his work in the French whose father, upon the death of his moth- film industry before, in the late Twenties, er, opts to court and marry a young wid- moving to work within the German film ow. The film is a portrait of grief and trag- industry. He is probably most renowned edy, told through the eyes of the young for Knight Without Armour, made in 1937 Jean, who gives an excellent central per- for Alexander Korda’s London Film Pro- formance of a child coming to terms with ductions, starring Marlene Dietrich and the death of his mother and subsequent Robert Donat. incorporation into his family of his father’s new wife and his new step-sister, Arlette (Arlette Peyran). Jean talks to his moth- er’s portrait every night; he devotedly visits his mother’s grave every Sunday, and the film’s subtle camerawork and im- pressive art direction convey the sense of isolation and loneliness felt by the young

Programme notes by Alex Rock, Programme Design and Layout by Molly Cotterill and Emma Jezard