Ruf der Berge (1944)

Ruf der Berge: Directed by Louis Daquin. With Irène Corday, André Le Gall, Marcel Delaître, Jean Davy. Zian Servettaz is a dedicated mountain man. His Italian-born wife Bianca does not adjust well to his mountain village in France, and to the ever life-threatening dangers presented by his mountain guiding and climbing.

“Long before the Nouvelle Vague,there were directors who tried to take the French cinema out of the studio;Louis Daquin was one of them.His movie,adapted from a famous Roger Frison-Roche novel,was filmed on location,with real mountaineers,without any special effects (thatu0026#39;s what the cast and credit tells us).The landscapes are really splendid and are the main asset of the movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt was an escapist movie.The correct year was actually 1943.In its own way ,this film reflects the Occupation days zeitgeist.In his precedent work,u0026quot;le Voyageur de la Toussaintu0026quot; ,Daquin had already condemned all that weakened the family.u0026quot;1er de cordéeu0026quot; is ,in its own way, more of the same.The family could be in jeopardy because of the son/father antagonism -he wants to be a guide but his father is not prepared to accept it and urges him to become a hotelier,but the ending isu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ethe triumph of the Family with a capital F.A family where men are the heroes:theirs is the struggle against a hostile nature.A womanu0026#39;s role is to wait and to take care of the house.The young guy tells his fiancée so: u0026quot;your place is near my mother,she needs you,etcu0026quot; .This is a thoroughly u0026quot;sane u0026quot; movie: thereu0026#39;s no love scene ,which is quite a feat,even at the time.Itu0026#39;s an open invitation to outdo yourself ,provided youu0026#39;re a man.”