Raymond Bernard

Wooden Crosses

Wooden Crosses

Hailed by the New York Times on its Paris release as "one of the great films in motion picture history," Raymond Bernard's Wooden Crosses, France's answer to All Quiet on the Western Front, still stuns with its depiction of the travails of one French regiment during World War I. Using a masterful arsenal of film techniques, from haunting matte paintings to jarring documentary-like camerawork in the film's battle sequences, Bernard created a pacifist work of enormous empathy and chilling despair. No one who has ever seen this technical and emotional powerhouse has been able to forget it.

Film Info

  • France
  • 1932
  • 113 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.33:1
  • French

Available In

Collector's Set

Eclipse Series 4: Raymond Bernard

Eclipse 4: Raymond Bernard

DVD Box Set

3 Discs

$31.96

Wooden Crosses
Cast
Pierre Blanchar
Gilbert Demachy
Gabriel Gabrio
Sulphart
Charles Vanel
Caporal Bréval
Raymond Aimos
Fouillard
Antonin Artaud
Vieublé
Paul Azais
Broucke
René Bergeron
Hamel
Raymond Cordy
Vairon
Credits
Director
Raymond Bernard
Screenplay
André Lang
Based on the novel by
Roland Dorgelès
Cinematography
Jules Kruger
Cinematography
René Ribault
Art direction
Jean Perrier
Editing
Lucien Grumberg

Current

The Darkness of War in Wooden Crosses
The Darkness of War in Wooden Crosses

In a new episode of Observations on Film Art, film-studies scholar Kristin Thompson analyzes the lyrical techniques in Raymond Bernard’s brutal war drama Wooden Crosses.