La Symphonie fantastique
1942 Drama / History   
 
Credits
  • Director: Christian-Jaque
  • Script: André du Dognon, Charles Exbrayat, Jean-Pierre Feydeau, André Legrand
  • Photo: Armand Thirard
  • Cast: Renée Saint-Cyr (Marie Martin), Lise Delamare (Harriet Smithson), Jean-Louis Barrault (Hector Berlioz), Jules Berry (Schlesinger), Bernard Blier (Antoine Charbonnel), Gilbert Gil (Louis Berlioz), Julien Bertheau (Victor Hugo), Catherine Fonteney (Madame Berlioz), Roland Armontel (Eugène Delacroix)
  • Country: France
  • Language: French
  • Runtime: 95 min; B&W
  • Aka: The Fantastic Symphony
 
 
 
Summary
The life and times of one of the greatest of French composers.  When he is not immersed in his compositions, Hector Berlioz lives a full life with his numerous friends and women.  Nowhere is his passion for life shown more forcefully than in his Symphonie fantastique ...

Review
Christian-Jaque directed this grand but somewhat anaemic historical bio-pic, made for the Germany-run company Continental at the time of the Occupation.   Although the sequence where Berlioz realises his Symphonie fantastique is filmed imaginatively, the film generally lacks the creative impulse and atmosphere of Christian-Jaque’s other works of this period.   Jean-Louis Barrault turns in a respectable performance as the flamboyant Berlioz, although the film’s shameless lack of historical authenticity is goading to anyone interested in an accurate portrayal of the composer’s life.

© James Travers 2003


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