Boudu Saved from Drowning

Boudu Saved from Drowning

1932 · 84 min · FR · 7.0 (113 votes)
Dir. Jean Renoir · Starring Michel Simon, Marcelle Hainia, Sévérine Lerczinska, Jean Gehret, Max Dalban, Jean Dasté
Comedy

Michel Simon gives one of the most memorable performances in screen history as Boudu, a Parisian tramp who takes a suicidal plunge into the Seine and is rescued by a well-to-do bookseller, Edouard Lestingois. The Lestingois family decides to take in the irrepressible bum, and he shows his gratitude by shaking the household to its foundations. With Boudu Saved from Drowning, legendary director Jean Renoir takes advantage of a host of Parisian locations and the anarchic charms of his lead actor to create an effervescent satire of the bourgeoisie.

VIBE

A boisterous, anarchic satire that gleefully skewers the bourgeoisie. It feels like a wild, uncontainable force disrupting a stuffy drawing-room, full of effervescent energy and a defiant spirit.

effervescentanarchicsatiricalboisteroussteadyParisiansatirecharacter-drivenearly cinemaclassbourgeoisiefreedomanarchy
▶ Stream on Criterion Channel
MORE LIKE THIS — multi-vector + why, diversified