Le Plaisir DVD – Danielle Darrieux, Jean Gabin

Le Plaisir based on the stories of Guy du Maupassant takes a gently wistful approach to the subject of love and desire through its three tales. Le Masque is the melancholy story of an old man as a veritable dancing wax museum figure hopelessly grasping for his lost youth in a nightly masquerade. La Maison Tellier “”a fairy tale for adults “” in the words of the narrator (Jean Servais playing Maupassant) is a delightful tale of a local brothel that closes for a night for a visit to the country where the ladies have gone to celebrate a young girl’s first communion. Jean Gabin is delightful as the charming country bumpkin who plays host to the troupe and becomes sweetly smitten with flirty Danielle Darrieux. The finale Le Modele stars Daniel Glin and Simone Simon as young lovers whose imminent breakup heads toward tragedy but takes a fateful turn both sad and sweet. Le Plaisir is a delicate portrait of love and desire. A favourite film of Jean-Luc Godard who called it “”the greatest film made in France since the liberation””.