Les Berceaux
Jean Epstein, FR 1931Screenplay: Jean Epstein; Cinematography: Joseph Barth; Music: Gabriel Fauré. DCP (from 35mm), bw, 6 min
Mor'vran, la mer des corbeaux
Jean Epstein, FR 1930Screenplay: Jean Epstein; Cinematography: Alfred Guichard, Albert Brès, Marcel Rebière; Music: Alexis Archangelsky. 35mm, bw, 25 min. French with English subtitles
L'Or des mers
Jean Epstein, FR 1931Screenplay: Jean Epstein; Cinematography: Christian Matras, Albert Albert Brès, J. Braun; Music: Thomas Kross-Hartmann, Marcel Devaux. 35mm, bw, 74 min. French with English subtitles
Le Tempestaire
Jean Epstein, FR 1947Screenplay: Jean Epstein; Cinematography: André S. Militon; Music: Yves Baudrier. 35mm, bw, 22 min. French with English subtitles
Jean Epstein's Brittany films are far more than just precursors to neorealism, as is often claimed: it's only Luchino Visconti's La terra trema (1948) that is a worthy successor to their blend of documentary fascination and lyrical force. With its poetic images set to a popular chanson, Les Berceaux is like a premonition of the ravishing documentary poem. Mor'vran, la mer des corbeaux, itself accompanied by Breton folk songs, about the Ile de Seine close to Brest. In L'Or des mers, an old Breton outsider finds a chest and becomes the village favourite: an excuse for another dreamlike study of nature, which illustrates Epstein's insight in passing that "every scene is good in slow motion even with bad actors." In Le Tempestaire, his penultimate film, Epstein returned once again in triumphant fashion to this pan-atheistic aesthetic and France's coasts, expanding slow motion to the soundtrack. (C.H.)
Courtesy Cinémathèque française