A Day in the Country

A bittersweet short. Renoir's disdain for the bourgeois is not as biting as Le Regle du Jeu, but it's definitely there, especially in the beginning. The film gradually changes direction and becomes more of a fable about fleeting happiness and lost opportunities. The photography is gorgeous -- everything bathed in bright sunlight, some amazing footage of the daughter on a swing, and magnificent nature shots, particularly during a rainstorm.

If this is unfinished then who needs finished films? It is pretty darn close to perfection. Look what cinema can do, in just 40 minutes, with 1936 production standards. Look at the simplicity with which bliss and sorrow replace one another like sudden changes of weather. And should it leave you hungry for another great Maupassant adaptation, continue on to Ophüls' Le Plaisir.

Masterful. Sublime. What is apparently an unfinished film plays as anything but, the lacunae actually creating a startling effect, particularly at the film's conclusion.

Perhaps it can be said that all men, in some way or another, are influenced by their fathers, and that Jean Renoir was no exception. If a black-and-white film can be described as pastel, then this is it. It's such a soft and idyllic picture, light and pastoral, filled with natural beauty and a slight sense of bittersweet. It is one of cinema's greatest misfortunes that this film is unfinished, but as is, it remains one of Renoir's most profound achievements.

It's unforgivable that circumstances met against this little gem being explored to its fullest - I'm certain the finished product would have been an unquestionable masterpiece. Still, what's here is marvelous, and the exquisite cinematography is left only slightly bothered from a bit of patchy editing.

Renoir captures the bourgeois sunday trip turning into an affair with beauty, but nothing like the acute precision of Maupassant. Dancing around convention the latter describes the sex by describing the nightingale’s song; for a filmic solution Renoir cuts to the storm that has been brewing, then the view from the returning boats without showing us the people: a beautifully withdrawn ending to the scene, but I feel it doesn’t really come together (and not for the unnecessary unfilmed scenes).

A simple story effectively told. The shots of the water on the river were really wonderful.

Looks real pretty but I just wasn’t into it! I do think the truncated ending makes it unexpectedly better than it would have been otherwise.

Good, but hurt by the fact that Renoit didn't finish it, I think. It feels like a very well done, solid first act with an ending that fits to some degree but is overly abrupt and doesn't pack the punch it might have with a proper running length. Sad that Renoir did not get to make the whole thing, because I feel like it was on the path to being excellent.

It may not technically be finished, but everything you need is here. A truly beautiful work of art.

Quite nice and beautifully shot before the attempted rape and the weird short ending. Why did they all get names in about the last five minutes of the film?

A fitting movie for summer's end. Fleeting, bittersweet encounters, little moments that alter lifetimes. Nothing about this film feels unfinished; it's hard to imagine that Renoir would have made a better movie here if he had doubled the length. Keeping in mind my relative inexperience with his work, I think this film shines with all of Renoir's best qualities - astounding compositions, a sensitive and complex approach to human emotion, a careful and rueful balance between comedy and drama.

Id rather cut off my cock and shove it up my ass while drinking my fat friends vomit than watch this movie again

Star Rating: ★★★★

Moments of staggering beauty here. Too bad it's not complete.

Jean Renoir #1

a day in the country, indeed. some lovely characters and photography, but was the ending satirical? based on my perception of renoir, i have my doubts, and if it isn't, it's fucking creepy. because, you know, the dude was kinda close to raping her.

Half a Renoir film is still better than most.

A unfinished 1936 Jean Renoir project that was edited together after the WW2 by his associates to as close to the vision he had intended. But of course, being unfinished, it felt unfinished. There is a certain beauty and simplicity in this work. From the 'fishermen' to the girls loving the attention of the strangers while their lovers don't seem to notice or care, enjoying the day out in the country. The flirting was going somewhere, but without the end intended.... the film feels unfinished.

Nice cinematography in this slice-of-life film. However, not as romantic as one might think. A bit creepy in fact, and the ending didn't add up to me.

A remarkably beautiful and very moving piece of filmmaking. I particularly loved the little poetic thoughts the daughter would say, and the swing scene is amazing (and I imagine almost certainly influenced Satyajit Ray's equally brilliant swing scene in Charulata). If I hadn't been told that the film wasn't completed then I'd never have realised it because few films feel so complete

Not for me. I ended up being glad it was unfinished so I didn't have to watch the whole thing.

watched: 2012, 2015

#165

Although it's often very silly, it's still scathingly funny with heavy doses of charm and sentiment mixed in. May have been one of Renoir's best had it been completed.

Cute, and once again Renoir excels in his acting duties.

most of the things I dislike about French

This unfinished film is naturally a little disjointed towards the end, but the set up is perfect: beautiful, touching, and funny. It could have been a masterpiece.

A very enjoyable and lively little film, works very well despite the missing part.

170

The inspirations for Jean Renoir's thirty-some-minute featurette sit in high places: first, the bleak and cold naturalism of Maupassant, and second, the dappled lighting effects of the Impressionist painters. In Renoir's hands, however, a Maupassant gem, whose outstanding trait is hardness, turns into Silly Putty. Renoir likes softness, and he likes bounce.

An unfinished film which was much admired for its local colour, like an impressionist picture come to life.

153

Distinctly elegant.

# 147

A charming movie with brilliant satire and beautiful memorable photography.