Children of Paradise
Also known as Les Enfants du Paradis, Les Enfants du paradis
1945 film by Marcel Carné
Film · TMDB
8.1In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.
Released: 1945-03-15190 minDir: Marcel CarnéDrama, RomanceBox office: $1,457
Cast
- Arletty as Claire Reine, dite Garance
- Jean-Louis Barrault as Baptiste Debureau
- Pierre Brasseur as Frédérick Lemaître
- Marcel Herrand as Pierre-François Lacenaire
- María Casares as Nathalie
- Louis Salou as Édouard comte de Montray
~22 min read
Article
Children of Paradise (French: Les Enfants du Paradis, [lez‿ɑ̃fɑ̃ dy paʁadi]) is a two-part French romantic drama film by Marcel Carné, produced under war conditions in 1943, 1944, and early 1945 in both Vichy France and Occupied France. Set in the theatrical world of 1830s Paris, it tells the story of a courtesan and four men—a mime, an actor, a criminal and an aristocrat—who love her in entirely different ways.
It has received universal critical acclaim. "I would give up all my films to have directed Les Enfants du Paradis", said nouvelle vague director François Truffaut. In Truman Capote's The Duke in His Domain (1957), actor Marlon Brando called it "maybe the best movie ever made". Its original American trailer positioned it as the French answer to Gone With the Wind (1939), an opinion shared by critic David Shipman. A 1995 poll of 600 French critics and industry professionals voted it the best French film ever made.