Jean Renoir's 1932 masterpiece, "Boudu Sauve des Eaux", which he made on location in Paris, is one of cinema's great humanist comedies that makes you totally forget that Paul Mazursky ever remade it as "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" or indeed that it was even remade in France with Gerard Depardieu as Boudu. The simple plot is about how the over-sexed, ageing and kind-hearted Monsieur Lestingois, (a superb Charles Granval), resuces the tramp Boudu, (a magnificent Michel Simon), from drowning in the Seine, takes him home where he wrecks havoc, seducing both Lestingois' wife and maid.
It's a film about what's come to be known as the milk of human kindness and how easily it can turn sour but Renoir never plays it for easy laughs; watching this film you can see why some people believe he may be the greatest director of them all. Boudu may embody elemental man but you would have to be a saint to embrace him. He's a rogue and remains so and your sympathies are always with poor, misguided Lestingois. Renoir may indeed be a humanist but he can see how our good deeds come back to bite us while at the same time saving a good deal of affection for the rascally tramp. Yes, this is a masterpiece and one of the finest of all French films.
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