L'Atalante 1934

A.H. Weiler, New York Times: The action is episodic and diffuse but Michel Simon, as the dour and cat-loving barge hand lends a bit of comic relief to the pallidly poetic proceedings. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: A major inspiration to subsequent generations of filmmakers, yet no one has ever succeeded in matching it. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It is on many lists of the greatest films, a distinction that obscures how down to earth it is, how direct in its story of a new marriage off to a shaky start. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Originally released in 1934, Jean Vigo's first and only full-length feature is one of the cinema's greatest masterpieces. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: L'Atalante is the world in springtime -- a place where shimmering reflections, smoky breezes, empty streets, and a free-floating sense of erotic energy are the essence of life and of movies. Read more

Hal Hinson, Washington Post: Rapt, exuberant and as fragile as mist, this passionate tone poem drifts in its own bubble of oddly dissonant, almost fatalistic romanticism. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: There is much playfulness and poetry, such visual riches. Read more