Terre, La

Director: André Antoine
France. 1921.
97. B&W.

Cast:

LA TERRE. Produced by S.C.A.G.L. Based on the novel by Emile Zola, adapted by André Antoine. Cinematography by René Guichard and René Gaveau. Assistant Directors: Gorges Denola and Julien Duvivier. Starring Armand Bour, René Alexandre, Germaine Rouer, Jean Hervé, and Milo. Restoration by Photoplay Productions, in collaboration with the Royal Belgian Film Archive and the Cinémathèque Française, from the sole surviving copy made available by Gosfilmofond. Score composed by Adrian Johnston. A Photoplay Productions presentation.

Zola's powerful novel of family greed, brutality and deceit is brilliantly brought to the screen by director André Antoine. Patriarch Pére Fouan divides his land between his two useless and scheming sons. But his generosity is rewarded with treachery. When the beautiful neighbor Françoise (played by famed French actress Germaine Rouer) discovers the sons' plot against their father, she falls victim to their vicious revenge. The final scene of the family's tragic fate is one of cinema's most haunting achievements.

When theatrical genius Antoine started his film career as "a sixty-year-old beginner," he dared to break all the rules of cinema. Shooting on location, he created a neorealist approach to his literary subjects. Antoine's masterful visual compositions are expressive of the relationship between the farmer and the land and the battle of good against evil. The gripping power of La Terre's cinematography comes to full force in the crystal-clear images of this stunning restoration by Photoplay Productions, under the auspices of Kevin Brownlow, Patrick Stanbury and the late David Gill.

Bonus Features

Stills Gallery and DVD-Rom text interview with actress Germaine Rouer

Reviews

"One of the most memorable and influential of all French silent films!" – Robert Osborne, TCM