There are films whose production could be a good subject for a film script. One of these cases seems to me to be ‘Remorques‘ (the English distribution title was ‘Stormy Waters‘). The director of this film was Jean Grémillon, a very interesting filmmaker, a documentarist and a musician as well, an artist involved in the anti-Nazi resistance but also the author of several films produced and distributed during the occupation. These films could be the subject of a case study on the art of cinema under conditions of occupation and war, on the boundaries between dignity and collaboration under conditions of censorship. ‘Remorques‘ is one of them. Filming began in the summer of 1939 and was interrupted by the outbreak of war, when Jean Gabin and other members of the film crew were called up in the army. Continuing in 1940, filming was interrupted again with the fall of Paris, to be completed in 1941. The film was first distributed in occupied France, with the approval of German censorship, although its stars, Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan had meanwhile taken refuge in America. The international premiere did not take place until after the war, in 1946. Beyond this interesting history, ‘Remorques‘ is a film with many qualities that make it stand the test of time and remain relevant over 80 years after its production.
The screenplay written by André Cayatte and Jacques Prévert, who adapted a novel by Roger Vercel for the screen, offers us a story that takes place on the ocean and on the shores of the (Atlantic) ocean which plays an important role. André Laurent, the film’s main hero, is the captain of a tugboat which rescues and tows boats in distress during storms on the ocean. In such a situation, he meets Catherine, the wife of the captain of another ship, who decides to leave her husband. The romance that develops between André and Catherine endangers André’s career as a seafarer dedicated to saving others and the marriage to his faithful wife Yvonne.
The romantic story is quite banal, but the film is interesting because of the way it is conceived visually and, of course, by the presence of two of the most formidable French actors of that period. Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan had already worked together in Marcel Carné’s ‘Le quai des brumes’ and the producers bet correctly by casting the two actors in the main roles. It is fascinating to this day to watch the way close-ups are used to make the characters’ feelings cross the screen and the magnetism between them in the scenes where they are together. Jean Grémillon was a very interesting filmmaker, with experience in documentary films. Some of the scenes are shot on real boats and they convey authenticity and drama. The original intention was for most of the filming to take place at sea, but for various reasons, some of the action scenes had to be produced in the studio with miniature models. Too bad. On the other side we can admire the use of mobile cameras in the scenes on the beach or in the city of Brest. Here Grémillon anticipates techniques that would become basic instruments in the toolkits of New Wave directors two decades later. ‘Remorques‘ is a film that bears the mark of the period in which it was made, but which manages to boldly combine cinematic genres. Although made in difficult conditions, it is solid and interesting enough to still be worth watching today.