Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: the summit meeting of two big names in French cinema.
Léandre Brassac (Jean Gabin), a veterinarian, is the happy owner of a mansion that he inherited. A temperamental and misanthropic man, he shares his life with a German woman named Marie (Lillie Palmer). One day, he meets a young prostitute without any bearings (Michèle Mercier) whom he decides to install in his home, after getting rid of her pimp.
This pitch is that of the excellent Le Tonnerre de Dieu, a feature film released in theaters in 1965, which the Arte channel has the good idea of broadcasting this Monday evening. Led by Jean Gabin and Michèle Mercier, this big screen adaptation of the novel Who carries me away by Bernard Clavel is a little classic full of fantasy, unjustly overlooked.
Excellently dialogued by Pascal Jardin, Le Tonnerre de Dieu marks the third collaboration between director Denys de La Patellière and Jean Gabin after Les Grandes familles and Rue des prairies (the two men would later reunite for Du rififi à Paname, Le Tatoué and Le Tueur).
The legendary comedian, with this character of a grumpy misanthrope, talkative, philosophical and very fond of drinking, delivers a delightful performance, proving himself as funny as he is touching. Irresistible.
A thunderous box office
Le Tonnerre de Dieu, a fantasy that does not deny itself a few touches of darkness, is a lovely success to discover quickly. The film, which we should note brings together Michèle Mercier and Robert Hossein on screen just one year after Angélique Marquise des anges, was a huge public success with more than 4 million spectators in French theaters.
Tonight on Arte at 8:55 p.m.
published on September 23, Clément Cuyer, Allociné
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