Product Details

• Actors: Jean Gabin, Françoise Arnoul, María Félix, Anna Amendola, Jean-Roger Caussimon
• Format: NTSC, Color
• Language: French
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Interama Inc
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301305043
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #383,433 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

French Cancan is quite possibly the greatest backstage movie ever. Paris, the 1880s: a natty, middle-aged nightclub impresario named Danglard (a sublime performance by French superstar Jean Gabin) is between engagements, and liaisons, at the moment. But he has a vision of reviving the cancan, the high-kicking dance that has fallen into disuse. He becomes convinced that he can lead this revival by casting a laundress (Françoise Arnoul) in his new show at a club called the Moulin Rouge. While a blissful entertainment in every way, French Cancan is also director Jean Renoir's examination of the imaginative process of turning life into art. (Renoir has some venerated film classics to his credit, including Grand Illusion and The Rules of the Game, but this one can stand right up there with them.) Danglard is clearly an alter ego for the great director, and his opening-night speech to his reluctant star, in which he declares that nothing is more important than what happens on stage, might be Renoir's own statement on art. The final cancan sequence is an explosion of color and movement, as all of Danglard's machinations come to flower; it's been known to leave revival-house audiences teary-eyed with pleasure. Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge may be very sly, but this is the real thing. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Birth of the can-can and its home, the Moulin Rouge., June 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: French Can-Can [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Lush, vibrant recreation of "belle epoque" Paris as showman Danglard (Jean Gabin) juggles lovers, creditors, and egos to create the Moulin Rouge and its main attraction: the can-can. The entire file is (by Eisenhower-era American standards) uncommonly sexy, and shuffles its musical numbers into the plot so subtly you forget you're watching(technically) a musical. The climactic nine-minute can-can is breathtaking. END

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent, September 14, 2001

By 

D.A. (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: French Cancan [VHS] (VHS Tape)

FRENCH CANCAN is arguably Renoir's best film in the 1950s (rivalled only by THE GOLDEN COACH and THE RIVER). It may well be the best filmization of that oft-filmed musical hall story, Moulin Rouge. It surely beats the hell out of John Huston's colourful but basically vacuous ..., or any other contender.

FRENCH CANCAN is a wonderful example of the kind of farcical frivolity that characterizes Renoir's work in the 50s. In a sense, the film struck me as a semi-sequel to the magical GOLDEN COACH, although CANCAN is much more intricate and restrained work. Both films are uniquely similar in that they never venture outside the theatre. Some critics have rudely charged the film for being too stagey and theatrical, but what the critics fail to see is that Renoir celebrates the theatricality of movies: He finds energy and vigour in the theatre functioning as a profound metaphor for life.

But what's so special about FRENCH CANCAN, aside from the exquisite colour, music, and dance numbers, is the way it understands that the wonderful world of the theatre is a result of hard and painful work. As the film proceeds, it leaves behind some hurtful feelings. Some of them are not reconciled. And Jean Gabin, in one of his greatest performances, is very adept at conveying these sombre feelings. Nonetheless, such feelings become thing of a past when the film reaches its spectacular finale, with the gusto of swirling cancan dancers.

FRENCH CANCAN is the most passionate and invigorating work of Renoir's late period. It is also my second favourite Renoir after THE RULES OF THE GAME.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent, September 13, 2001

By 

D.A. (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: French Cancan [VHS] (VHS Tape)

FRENCH CANCAN is arguably Renoir's best film in the 1950s (rivalled only by THE GOLDEN COACH and THE RIVER). It may well be the best filmization of that oft-filmed musical hall story, Moulin Rouge. It surely beats the hell out of John Huston's colourful but basically vacuous 1952 MOULIN ROUGE or any other contender. FRENCH CANCAN is wonderful example of the kind of farcical frivolity that characterizes Renoir's work in the 50s. In a sense, the film struck me as a semi-sequel to the magical THE GOLDEN COACH, although FRENCH CANCAN is much more intricate and restrained work. But both films are uniquely similar in that they never venture outside the theatre. Some critics have rudely charged the film for being too stagy and theatrical, but what the critics fail to see is that Renoir celebrates the theatricality of movies: He finds energy and vigour in the theatre functioning as a profound metaphor for life.

But what's so special about FRENCH CANCAN, aside from the exquisite colour, music, and dance numbers, is the way it understands that the wonderful world of the theatre is a result of hard and painful work. As the film proceeds, it leaves behind some hurtful feelings. Some of them are not reconciled. And Jean Gabin, in one of his greatest performances, is very adept at conveying these sombre feelings. Nonetheless, such feelings become thing of a past when the film reaches its spectacular finale, with the gusto of swirling cancan dancers.

FRENCH CANCAN is the most passionate and invigorating work of Renoir's late period. It is also my second favourite Renoir after THE RULES OF THE GAME.