René Clément

Gervaise

Gervaise

One of France’s most respected directors of the postwar era, René Clément created such intense psychological dramas as Forbidden Games and Purple Noon. The equally gripping Gervaise, his vivid adaptation of Émile Zola’s 1877 masterpiece L’assommoir, is an uncompromising depiction of a laundress’s struggles with an alcoholic husband while running her own business. Gervaise was nominated for an Oscar and earned Maria Schell best actress honors at the Venice Film Festival.

Film Info

  • France
  • 1956
  • 117 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.33:1
  • French

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Gervaise
Cast
Maria Schell
Gervaise Macquart
François Périer
Henri Coupeau
Suzy Delair
Virginie
Jany Holt
Mme. Lorilleaux
Mathilde Casadesus
Mme. Boche
Florelle
Maman Coupeau
Jacques Harden
Gouget
Armand Mestral
Lantier
Credits
Director
René Clément
Producer
Annie Dorfmann
Based on The Dram Shop by
Émile Zola
Adaptation and dialogue by
Jean Aurenche
Adaptation and dialogue by
Pierre Bost
Cinematography
Robert Juillard
Sets
Paul Bertrand
Editing
Henri Rust
Sound
Antoine Archimbaud
Wardrobe
Mayo

Current

Gervaise: True Grit
Gervaise: True Grit
Director René Clément had conveyed the darker aspects of human nature in 1952’s heartbreaking Forbidden Games, which became an international, award-winning hit despite the rawness and melancholy of its antiwar message. The bitter irony and willin…

By Michael Koresky