Life Is Ours (1936)
55KLife Is Ours (1936). 1h 6m
“Many directors worked on this film ,the most famous is Jean Renoir -who was not part of the Communist Party but whose name was put forward by poet Louis Aragon- ,but there is also Jacques Becker and one of the Nouvelle Vagueu0026#39;s numerous betes noires,Jean-Paul Le Chanois.It is very difficult to tell who did what.I will not try.The movie was not really theatrically released before 1969 (the year after May 68).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;La vie est à nousu0026quot; predates Godardu0026#39;s u0026quot;Cinema Veritéu0026quot; (u0026quot;la Chinoiseu0026quot; u0026quot;Tout va Bienu0026quot; etc)by thirty years but do not panic.It is not as stodgy as JLGu0026#39;s lectures.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOf course itu0026#39;s basically a propaganda movie and it might interest only people who are fans of the directors I mention(and completists at that).It is made of sketches ,telling stories of everyday life: a school teacher tells his pupils about their countryu0026#39;s national wealth,but he sadly concludes:u0026quot;youu0026#39;ll never take advantage of them u0026quot; Blame it on the 200 families who possess all the money.A photo album shows some of them,notably the Schneider family,whose patriarch Eugene was an industrialist and politician of the nineteenth century (he owned his own factory when he was about 30,thanks essentially to his wifeu0026#39;s dowry) Then there are several tales of misfortune:u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e-A working man is fired.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e-Another one is on the dole although he is an educated man.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e-A farm is put up for auction.(this segment will remind fans of of u0026quot;little house (in the prairie)u0026quot; one of its episodes!! u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd every time,the commies come to the rescue! The film ends with speeches by the then big names in the party .Itu0026#39;s rather boring.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor historians and sociologists.”
