Pioneers of the Screen: Gaumont and the Origins of Motion Pictures

Walking the line between realism and surrealism, Jean Vigo’s only feature-length film, L' Atalante, is considered an essential work of cinema and admired by many filmmakers, including the pioneers of the French New Wave. The film poetically tells the story of newlyweds Jean and Juliette, who embark on their new life together on a barge named L’atalante. Vigo’s minimal visual approach elegantly portrays the characters in harmony with the elements—the dark water of the canal, the omnipresent fog of the waterfront, and the clear sky above—and plays beautifully with cinematographer Boris Kaufman’s bold frames.

An adaptation of one of Mozart’s greatest operas, Joseph Losey’s 1979 film tells the tale of Don Giovanni, a serial seducer whose lust and cruelty wreaks havoc on his life and the lives of those around him. Themes of love, death, and excess establish the high-drama world the characters inhabit, punctuated by its use of operatic song. Here, the translation of opera onto film delivers a product that is visually resplendent, heightening the source material’s comedic strength and musical prowess.

Albert Dupontel finesses his artistries in directing and acting in his 2017 feature centered around two soldiers—former bookkeeper Albert (Dupontel), and Edouard (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart), a gifted artist whose face is disfigured during World War I. Now a veteran, Edouard—with Albert’s help—plans a grand memorial scheme targeting the families of war victims. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Pierre Lemaitre, the film showcases a fantastical world, guided by dazzling production design as it delves into the dark territories of war and trauma while retaining glimpses of hope, redemption, and loyalty to humanity.

Maurice Pialat’s examination of the legendary Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh focuses on the artist’s inglorious battle of the everyday—his incurable headaches, deteriorating mental and physical health, and troubled personal relationships—rather than emphasizing his grandiose artistic vision. In depicting Van Gogh’s last few months in Auvers-sur-Oise before his death, the film maintains a respectful gaze on one man’s life, surveying and observing the artist’s routine without artificially dramatizing his activities or the aesthetics of the cinematic language.