A Film for the Wanderers

À Nous a Liberté (1931)

Written and directed by Rene Claire



What a joy it was to watch this film.

If you watch it and you aren't inspired somehow, if it doesn't move just even a little something inside you, then you're either too old to give a shit about life (probably because you're so close to death) or you've been dead inside a long time. I might be wrong. I might have some irrational crush on this film... but I doubt it.

This is hands-down one of the most moving depictions of personal freedom I've seen... ever. The most. Ever.

It comes to us from France and was released in 1931. 

As of this post, you can watch it on youtube in bits, or get the disc from Netflix but trust me, if you're worth your oats, you'd just as well go ahead and buy it (or download it). If you don't like it, sell it to me and I'll give it to someone with taste. I hate to sound like a scenester, and I'm typically not a snob when it comes to anything, but, if you don't dig this movie, go feel free to go back to watching NASCAR.

This is, lets be honest, a left-wing criticism of (then) social mores.

But don't let that stop you!
So are most films! So was ET if you really think about it.

Go! Watch it! Trust me! Don't waste any more time reading this god-forsaken blog!

And don't knit your niece's socks while you're watching it, either. Pay attention.

Watch the film, and think about 1931. Think about the world 20 years before that. 1911. Think about film in 1911. If you don't know that much about film in1911, let me tell you, it was like AOL in 1991. It sucked, but that's all there was.

Film was an American invention, too. Then, it went overseas, and in less than the amount of time it takes for a human to reach the drinking age in the US, we walk away with this outstanding piece of cinematic commentary.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll yearn for a workers' paradise and the open road....