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Jean Renoir and Akira Kurosawa, two of cinema's greatest directors, transform Maxim Gorky's classic proletariat play The Lower Depths in their own ways for their own times. Renoir, working amidst the rise of Hitler and the Popular Front in France, had need to take license with the dark nature of Gorky's source material, softening its bleak outlook. Kurosawa, firmly situated in the postwar world, found little reason for hope. He remained faithful to the original with its focus on the conflict between illusion and reality—a theme he would return to over and over again. Working with their most celebrated actors (Gabin with Renoir; Mifune with Kurosawa), each film offers a unique look at cinematic adaptation—where social conditions and filmmaking styles converge to create unique masterpieces.
Original Release
12/11/1936
US Release
09/10/1937
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Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Jean Gabin | Pepel Wasska |
Suzy Prim | Vassilissa Kostyleva |
Louis Jouvet | Le baron |
Jany Holt | Nastia / Nastia, la prostituée |
Vladimir Sokoloff | Kostylev / le vieux Kostileff |
Robert Le Vigan | L'acteur alcoolique |
Camille Bert | Le comte |
René Génin | Louka - le philosophe / Lukas, le philosophe |
Paul Temps | Satine - le télégraphiste |
Robert Ozanne | Jabot de Travers |
Directors
Writers
Jean Renoir, Maxim Gorky, Yevgeni Zamyatin, Jacques Companéez, Charles Spaak
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Jean Gabin | Pepel Wasska |
Suzy Prim | Vassilissa Kostyleva |
Louis Jouvet | Le baron |
Jany Holt | Nastia / Nastia, la prostituée |
Vladimir Sokoloff | Kostylev / le vieux Kostileff |
Robert Le Vigan | L'acteur alcoolique |
Camille Bert | Le comte |
René Génin | Louka - le philosophe / Lukas, le philosophe |
Paul Temps | Satine - le télégraphiste |
Robert Ozanne | Jabot de Travers |
Henri Saint-Isle | Klestch - le cordonnier |
Alex Allin | Tatar |
André Gabriello | Toptoun - l'inspecteur des garnis / le commissaire Toptoum |
Léon Larive | Felix - le valet du baron / Félix, le valet de chambre du baron |
Nathalie Alexeeff | Anna - un pauvresse qui se meurt |
Maurice Baquet | Alochka - le fou accordéoniste / Aliocha, le fou accordéoniste |
Junie Astor | Natacha / Natacha, la sœur de Vassilissa |
Jacques Becker | Un promeneur |
Fernand Bercher | Un officier |
Paul Grimault | Petit rôle / Uncredited |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Alexandre Kamenka | Producer |