Live accompaniment by Andrew E. Simpson, piano.
Celebrate Silent Movie Day 2024 at the National Gallery with this Jean Epstein classic—a powerful melodrama set among old Marseille's piers and pubs. The story revolves around young Marie (Gina Manès), in love with handsome dockworker Jean (Léon Mathot), but who has already been promised to a vile troublemaker, Petit Paul (Edmond Van Daële), who won't let go. Coeur Fidèle's visual beauty is tied to its technical experimentation—for example, a whirling merry-go-round sequence and an expressive use of facial close-ups. A visionary of 1920s cinematic modernism, filmmaker and theorist Jean Epstein often innovatively used poetic motifs of water and the seaside in his work. (Jean Epstein, 1923, 90 minutes)
Part of the ongoing Art Films and Special Screenings series.