The Lower Depths
Jean Renoir and Akira Kurosawa, two of cinema's greatest directors, transform Maxim Gorky's classic proletariat play The Lower Depths in their own ways for their own times. Renoir, working amidst the rise of Hitler and the Popular Front in France, had need to take license with the dark nature of Gorky's source material, softening its bleak outlook. Kurosawa, firmly situated in the postwar world, found little reason for hope. He remained faithful to the original with its focus on the conflict between illusion and reality—a theme he would return to over and over again. Working with their most celebrated actors (Gabin with Renoir; Mifune with Kurosawa), each film offers a unique look at cinematic adaptation—where social conditions and filmmaking styles converge to create unique masterpieces.
Available In
Collector's Set
Cast
- Jean Gabin
- Pépel (the thief)
- Suzy Prim
- Vassilissa Kostylyov (the landlady)
- Junie Astor
- Natasha (her sister)
- Vladimir Sokoloff
- Kostylyov (her husband)
- Louis Jouvet
- The baron (the gambler)
- Robert Le Vigan
- The actor
- Jany Holt
- Nastia (the prostitute)
- Paul Temps
- Satine
- Robert Ozanne
- Jabot
- Henri Saint-Isle
- Kletsch (Anna’s husband)
- Nathalie Alexeff
- Anna
- André Gabriello
- The inspector
- Léon Lavine
- Felix (the servant)
- Maurice Baquet
- Alouchka (the musician)
- Camille Bert
- The count
- René Génin
- Luka (the pilgrim)
Credits
- Director
- Jean Renoir
- Writer, original play
- Maxim Gorky
- Writers, scenario
- Jacques Companeez
- Writers, scenario
- Jean Renoir
- Writers, scenario
- Charles Spaak
- Writers, scenario
- Eugene Zamiatine
- Producer
- Alexandre Kamenka
- Cinematography
- Fédote Bourgasoff
- Editing
- Marguerite Renoir
- Music
- Jean Wiener
- Sound
- Robert Ivonnet
