Film Screening of Children of Paradise

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Join us for a screening of Marcel Carné’s Children of Paradise (1945, 190 minutes, black and white, French with English subtitles) in conjunction with the exhibition Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me.

Poetic realism reached sublime heights with Children of Paradise, widely considered one of the greatest French films of all time. This nimble depiction of nineteenth-century Paris’s theatrical demimonde, filmed during World War II, follows a mysterious woman (Arletty) loved by four different men (all based on historical figures): an actor, a criminal, a count, and, most poignantly, a mime (Jean-Louis Barrault, in a longing-suffused performance for the ages). With sensitivity and dramatic élan, director Marcel Carné and screenwriter Jacques Prévert resurrect a world teeming with hucksters and aristocrats, thieves and courtesans, pimps and seers. And thanks to a major new restoration, this iconic classic looks and sounds richer and more detailed than ever.

A watercolor painting depicts a mime dressed in a flowing, white-striped costume holding the hand of a colorful, jester-like figure who is leaping energetically. They are set in an atmospheric, theatrical scene reminiscent of a film screening of *Children of Paradise*, with large arched windows in the background.

Shary Boyle, Baptiste Kills His Father, 2018, ink and gouache on paper, courtesy of the artist and Patel Brown Gallery.

A crowded audience watches a stage performance, under dim lighting, featuring a performer in a white costume. The stage background is decorated with urban scenery, including buildings, windows, and streetlights—a scene reminiscent of the film screening of *Children of Paradise*.

Still from the film Children of Paradise