AllMovie

By the time the 98-minute documentary Andre Gide made it to the screen, its titular subject had passed away. As a result, the scenes in which author/playwright Gide discusses his work, his life and his goals take on an eerie poignancy. Director Marc Allegret employs a combination of still photos, newsreel footage and interviews to paint a vivid portrait of Gide's role in the new French literary movement of the early 1900s. Also prominent in the proceedings are excerpts from a filmed record of Gide's trip to Africa, also helmed by Allegret. The most controversial passages of the film concern Andre Gide's flirtation with, and ultimately break from, the communist party.