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Article: `L'Atalante': Lost Treasure
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- November 9, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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A BLOODLESS description of Jean Vigo's "L'Atalante" would
indicate a black and white French film, made in 1934, featuring a
mundane boy-girl plot, a collection of French songs and a barge. But
similar scrutiny would define a pearl as a layered piece of grit.
Yes, this movie's about a boy (Jean Daste), a girl (Dita Parlo)
and a barge (called L'Atalante), but it's also a jewel of a movie,
which has been recently recut, reshone and redisplayed by archival
champions Pierre Philippe and Jean-Louis Bompoint. If you watch
films with any kind of aesthetic pulse, this one will quicken your
pleasure as often as you see it. And this movie you should see