The Battle of the Rails (French: La Bataille du rail) is a 1946 French war film directed by René Clément. It depicts the efforts by railway workers in the French Resistance to sabotage German military transport trains during the Second World War, particularly during the Invasion of Normandy by Allies.[1] Many of the cast were genuine railway workers.[2] While critics have often historically treated it as similar to Italian neorealism, it is closer to the traditional documentaries on which the director had worked on.[3]
| The Battle of the Rails | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | René Clément |
| Written by | René Clément Colette Audry |
| Produced by | Pierre Lévy-Corti |
| Starring | Marcel Barnault Jacques Desagneaux Jean Clarieux |
| Cinematography | Henri Alekan |
| Edited by | Jacques Desagneaux |
| Music by | Yves Baudrier |
Production company | Coopérative Générale du Cinéma Français |
| Distributed by | Union Française de Production Cinématographique |
Release date | 27 February 1946 |
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
The film was shown at the 1946 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Prix international du jury and Clément won the Best Director Award. The film also won the inaugural Prix Méliès. In 1949 the film was distributed in America by Arthur Mayer and Joseph Burstyn.
Cast edit
- Charles Boyer as Narrator
- Jean Clarieux as Lampin
- Jean Daurand as Cheminot
- Jacques Desagneaux as Athos
- François Joux as Cheminot
- Pierre Latour as Cheminot
- Tony Laurent as Camargue
- Robert Le Ray as Chef de gare
- Pierre Lozach as Cheminot
- Pierre Mindaist as Cheminot
- Léon Pauléon as Chef de gare St-André
- Fernand Rauzéna as Cheminot
- Redon as Mecanicien
- Michel Salina as Allemand
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Zaretsky, Robert (4 April 2018). "Macron's Been Working on the Railroad". Foreign Policy.
René Clément's classic 1946 film The Battle of the Rails suggests wartime life expectancy of cheminots was even lower – at least among those who sought to sabotage the Nazi war machine in France.
- ^ Williams p.303
- ^ Williams p.303
Bibliography edit
- Williams, Alan. Republic of Images: A History of French Filmmaking. Harvard University Press, 1992.
External links edit
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