Partie de campagne (1946)

	Also Known As: A day in the country, Eine Landpartie
	Year of first release: 1946
	Director: Jean Renoir
	Actors: Sylvia Bataille, Jacques Borel, Paul Temps, Georges Saint-Saens
	Country: F
	Genre: Romance
	Conditions of visioning: 12.11.2014, DVD, French version
Synopsis: A Parisian family spends a day in the country. While the men, Henri (Saint-Saens) and his future father in law, decide to go fishing, the ladies, Henriette (Bataille) and her mother, let their charm work on two rowers Rodolphe (Borel) and Anatole (Temps) of the village.
Review: As I saw this DVD, I took it because I loved La grande illusion. But this is much different. The movie is very short, just 39 minutes, has been produced in 1936 and has been released actually only in 1946 ten years after the production. Nobody knows really why.  There are several sides. The naive romance of Henriette. The would-be romance of Henriette's mother. The comedy with Henri and Henriette's father. The plot is very simple and reminds the impressionist classical paintings of picnic along the rivers close to Paris. Jean Renoir is the son of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the famous impressionist painter. Maybe this played a role. The acting is very authentic but as the characters, very simple. Sylvia Bataille is not only beautiful but is also stunning with her acting. The romance does not look to be mutual until we see the kiss and the last scene years later. There are also a couple of average humorous scenes. Well, the movie in general is average.  In the DVD, there are also unused takes thanks to the Cinématèque française. Some of these are very funny and other show also how Renoir directed the actors. Relatively interesting. For instance, Sylvia Bataille rejected one take because of the light.
Rating: 4 /10