by Matthew Tobey
synopsis
À Nous la Liberté is an early talkie from French filmmaker René Clair. Louis (Raymond Cordy) and Emile (Henri Marchand) are a pair of convicts whose lives take decidely different paths after prison. Emile works his way up the ladder of capitalism, becoming a phonograph factory boss, a job that finds him overseeing a bleak outfit of automatous drones. Louis, on the other hand, lives the life of a poverty-stricken vagabond. Despite their contrasting lots, the pair meet up again later in life. À Nous la Liberté is perhaps best remembered for being the main inspiration for Charlie Chaplin's 1936 classic Modern Times.
characteristics
- High Production Values
- High Historical Importance
- High Artistic Quality
- Factory
- Psychic
- Prison
- On-the-road
- Rags-to-riches
- Unrequited Love
- Technology
- Rise To Power
- Modernization
- Work Ethics
- Industry
- Friend
