Coeur de gueux

With COEUR DE GUEUX, Jean Epstein crafted a work of restrained, yet affecting melodrama set against a backdrop of the circus and the open road. Adapted from a silent film of the same name from 1925 directed by Alfred Machin and Henry Wulschleger, COEUR DE GUEUX follows the misadventures of a young woman who is seduced, disillusioned and ultimately swept away by the itinerant life of a fairground performer. Co-writing the dialogues of his adaptation, Epstein infuses the story with a more modern sensitivity, balancing the social drama of the original with his usual penchant for visual poetry. While firmly rooted in the conventions of melodrama and certainly part of director’s “commercial output”, COEUR DE GUEUX transcends the genre through Epstein’s precise mastery of narrative economy and understated emotional weight. Visually less experimental than his avant-garde work of the 1920s, the film nonetheless reveals the director’s enduring humanism and fascination with those living at the margins of society. In portraying this world of traveling artists and disillusioned dreamers, Epstein captures a lyrical tenderness that lingers long after the final reel. (Jean-Michel Gentile)

All retrospective films that will be shown at the Filmmuseum after the Viennale - from 29.10. - can of course also be reserved as usual at filmmuseum.at or by calling 01/533 70 54 and purchased at the box office of the Austrian Film Museum. The prices of the Austrian Film Museum apply.