Product Details

• Actors: Arletty, Marie Dea, Fernand Ledoux, Alain Cuny, Pierre Labry
• Directors: Marcel Carne
• Format: Blu-ray, Black & White, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: French
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Criterion Collection
• DVD Release Date: September 18, 2012
• Run Time: 121 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B008CJ0JRK
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,340 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

A work of poetry and dark humor, Les visiteurs du soir is a lyrical medieval fantasy from the great French director Marcel Carné (Children of Paradise). Two strangers (Children of Paradise’s Arletty and La dolce vita’s Alain Cuny), dressed as minstrels, arrive at a castle in advance of court festivities—and it is revealed that they are actually emissaries of the devil himself, dispatched to spread heartbreak and suffering. Their plans, however, are thwarted by an unexpected intrusion: human love. Often interpreted as an allegory for the Nazi occupation of France, during which it was made, Les visiteurs du soir—wittily written by Jacques Prévert (Children of Paradise) and Pierre Laroche (Lumière d’été), and elegantly designed by Alexandre Trauner (Port of Shadows) and shot by Roger Hubert (Children of Paradise)—is a moving and whimsical tale of love conquering all.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Marcel does the Middle Ages September 23, 2002

By Marc Cabir Davis

Format:VHS Tape

As a huge fan of the works of Marcel Carne and Jacques Prevert, it is unfortunate to learn that other than 'Children of Paradise', none of their works are available on DVD. However, it is at least some consolation when you find that they are still in print on VHS. Considering that one of the finest films of all time, 'L'Atalante' by genius Jean Vigo has gone out of print on video, and that no one has bothered to put it back on the shelves, I must say that for such old French classics such as this one to still be around is a fact worth commending.

'Les Visiteurs de Soir' literally translates into 'The Visitors of the Evening', but the English world has taken the liberty of calling it 'The Devil's Envoys'. This remarkable gem, a remnant of the early 1940s, is French romanticism at its best. While the original tale is a fable that children will delight in, the film-making team also saw the story as a way to make a point about the political establishment at the time. Marcel Carne has repeatedly won my respect as a film-maker, and though his crowning glory remains 'Les Enfants du Paradis', this little known film remains perhaps his most sly attempt at movie-making. Almost every sentence is a statement of political defiance, and every frame of the film is bathed in the unnaturally brilliant light that Marcel shot his movies in.

'Les Visiteurs de Soir' looks older than it actually is. Perhaps this has something to do with the horrendous transfer that this particular edition is inflicted with. There are patches where it seems the film has burned away - gaping holes and scars are evident, which leads one to wonder what condition the master film is actually in.... However, that minor technicality apart, the entire story reads like an adventure worth taking, although the actual transfer from page to screen is something that works in a way quite unexpected.

This is a much slower film than 'Children of Paradise'. To be honest, the only thing the two films share in common is Arletty. Here, she plays one of the Devil's Envoys, sent to a town to teach/convert/berate/observe/spoil its' inhabitants. She arrives with a male partner, and is soon dining with lords and baronesses. The dialogue is simply stunning. Arletty's performance as an androgynous being is played up and she remains a cool and aloof creature for much of the movie. However, it is the other envoy, the man, who is more affected by his new surroundings. Played by the beautiful Alain Cuny, the male envoy is a being who has never experienced the love of a human being, and his desire for the lovely Marie Dea is what forms the crux of the film.

It is at this stage that the devil enters. Played by Jules Berry as a crass old ugly sort of monster, he is an exaggeration of everything evil. He finds pleasure in the unhappiness of others, he is thrilled when people relinquish their control to him. When Marie Dea's pure and unblemished love for the male envoy seems beyond his control, the devil is not pleased. He does everything in his power to win her soul, and this becomes his prime challenge.

As I had mentioned before, this entire storyline is filled with political innuendo, and it doesn't take an expert in European history to figure out what is actually going on. When the devil, in rage, finally turns the lead couple to stone, another shock awaits him. Needless to say, the film ends with the devil being defeated, but the lead couple pay a price as well. And the point is made that even though the couple has lost the battle, they have won the war. Very much like the ending of 'La Vita E Bella'.

Characters are very well etched. The Devil plays the face of Germany and the German Occupation. The Devil's envoys play the young German soldiers who go in with a policy, yet return with different ideals. The French play the french, all for liberty, equality, and fraternity, and the neverending struggle to achieve all of these goals.

I especially liked Arletty's character, even though she almost disappears for the second half of the film. The most visually appealing thing about this movie is the lighting. Every frame could be an exercise in film-making - the bright hues of the French morning are all lovingly captured, and the close-ups of the lead characters are so beautifully filmed. The screenplay is flawless, though at times you wish they could be a little less obvious in their message.

'Les Visiteurs de Soir' will probably never be as important as 'Les Enfants du Paradis' or the other Carne classic 'Le jour se leve'. It had its own time and place, and its' meaning was probably more relevant in the 1940s than it is today. However, there is also something timeless about its' texture and quality. This is a movie I could sit through over ten times and never be bored. As with every Carne film, it helps to be a native or taught French speaker to truly appreciate the nuances of the dialogue - the yellow subtitles on this edition are especially hideous, both in the way they've been translated and their appearance - but it doesn't take much to be swept in by this delightful treat of a film. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves old French movies, and in particular, the works of the masters such as Carne and Francois Truffaut.

If you liked this, you'd love 'L'Atalante' by Jean Vigo, 'Le fille sur le pont' by Patrice Leconte, and Carne's 'Les quai de brumes'. I'd also like to bring your attention to the fact that many of Carne's works are now available on DVD from Amazon's French website, although this catalog does not yet include 'Les Visiteurs de soir'. Read more ›

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Masterpiece January 30, 2007

By Andres C. Salama

Format:VHS Tape

A relatively little-known but fascinating movie. Made during the German occupation of France, the film is set in the Late Middle Ages and deals with two envoys of the devil, Gilles and Dominique (Alain Cuny and Arletty, wonderful both) that arrive posing as wandering minstrels at the castle of a Baron where preparations for an upcoming wedding are being made. Their intention is to create havoc by breaking the hearts of all involved. These envoys have extraordinary powers to achieve these goals, like slowing time to a stop so that they can work on their targets at ease. Eventually, the very devil shows up at the castle in disguise. One can argue that the devil in the movie stands for Hitler and the Nazis and so forth, but the film works even if you don't try to watch it as a metaphor for the contemporary events of the time. The movie is memorable and evocative, with many great scenes and a great ending.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The new Criterion DVD restored version is very good! October 25, 2012

By TheNoomz83

Format:DVD

Forget the inferior VHS version that Marc Cabir Davis describes in his 2002 review here. The now 70-year-old film has undergone a meticulous digital restoration for its debut on DVD. One can again fully appreciate the superb black and white cinematography. The soundtrack has had an impeccable 24-bit remastering, and the new English subtitles are well translated and easy to read on the screen. Also included in the new DVD package is an informative 2009 French documentary on the making of this film in 1942 under Nazi occupation and the Vichy government. In addition, there is a booklet with seven pages of text by film critic and author Michael Atkinson and seven pages of photographs from the film.
As for the film itself, see the aforementioned Davis review. I had to dock it a star because it so obviously suffers in comparison to its successor, Carne's ultimate masterpiece, "Les Enfants du Paradis" ("The Children of Paradise"). After a brilliant start (through the whole banquet sequence), the film gets progressively bogged down in its convoluted plot (that takes too long in resolving itself), becoming overly talky and a bit tedious in the process. However, the ending is so iconic that much of this can be forgiven. Also worth noting is the comment by the great French film critic Georges Sadoul, with which I would concur, that some of "the fantasy is rather forced." However, for appreciators and students of French cinema, this is a film that should not be missed, given its historical context. It launched a trend of other notable French films under the Occupation that, beneath a veneer of ostensibly escapist fare that eluded the Fascist censors, contained a subversive subtext of a yearning to be free from the forces of oppression.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "It isn't worth a single tear. It's nothing but a story invented to amuse the Devil." December 10, 2012

By Trevor Willsmer TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Blu-ray

"Could you be the cause of all these troubles?"
"What do you expect? No-one loves me. I amuse myself as best I can."

Overshadowed outside France by both that other Medieval romantic fantasy and its director's Les Enfants du Paradis but revered in its homeland as one of the great films of the war years, Marcel Carne's Les Visiteurs du Soir has been particularly hard for non-French speakers to see for years: not released on video and unseen on UK TV for three decades, it's only with Criterion's largely unheralded DVD and Blu-ray release that many will have got the chance to finally see his tale of demons and marvels. While it doesn't cast as magic or as poetic an ethereal spell as Cocteau's La Belle et la Bete, it's still an impressive fable whose added resonance for a Nazi-occupied population is easy to see even if Carne and co-writer Jacques Prevert always insisted that no anti-Nazi subtext was intended, the Medieval setting simply the easiest way to get around the German censors.

The plot is simple: two minstrels arrive at a castle, whose occupants are celebrating the betrothal of the Baron's daughter initially unaware that the two visitors (Arletty and Alain Cuny) have been sent by the Devil to sow discord by loving and destroying them and leaving the Devil to pick up the tab. Not that they don't have plenty of raw material to work with: despite the jollity of the banquets and the lack of work for the executioner, the castle is almost underpinned by sadness.... The Baron (Fernand Ledoux) is still mourning his lost wife, the servant girl all too aware that her plainness ensures the page she loves won't even look at her and the groom (Marcel Herrand) is more interested in songs of hunting and killing than of love, confused by his bride-to-be Marie Dea's kindness towards unfortunates and dismissing her dreams because "Dreams are dangerous and useless. I never dream myself." For all the elegance and fairytale settings, it's a cruel world where love is a weapon to make people tear themselves apart: "It isn't worth a single tear. It's nothing but a story invented to amuse the Devil." It's a game the envoys have played so many times they're working from the same script, telling each new victim "As soon as I saw you, I knew why I'd travelled so far. I thanked Heaven for leading me to you."

Yet the envoys aren't ethereal symbolic figures but have their own tortured dysfunctional relationship of recriminations and mockery, revisiting their failed and false romance on their victims. Arletty enjoys her work, particularly if it means leading men to their death or to the very place she has come from, but Cluny is increasingly tortured by the deal he has made with the Devil, even more so when he genuinely falls in love with the bride-to-be. From then on the film becomes a battle for hearts and souls as Jules Barry's Devil enters the fray, appearing everywhere at once to mislead, corrupt or gently scold the mere mortals. It's easy to see why so many saw him as Hitler incarnate, making empty promises and offering those who collaborate with him every comfort but never able to still the pure hearts that defy him. He's a cheerful soul, certain of his eventual victory and uncomprehending of the notion of resistance, but thanks to Jacques Prevert's dialogue he doesn't get all the best lines - most of those, surprisingly, go to the lovers, true or false.

It's a surprisingly lavish production for a French wartime film, Trauner's design and Roger Hubert's photography giving it a deceptively simple and attractive look for a film filled with betrayal, hopeless longing and torment. It generally favors simpler special effects than you might expect from a period fable, but at their best, such as when the envoys stop time to steal a tryst with the groom and bride-to-be, they're quietly effective. At times the film threatens to lose its grip and some of the dungeon scenes with a distressed Cluny stray perilously close to bad acting, but the spell is never broken and its easy to see why the film found such a special place in French cinema with its own brand of dark magic and cruel love. Oh, and look out for a young Simone Signoret and Alain Resnais as extras in the banquet scene.

Aside from the customary booklet there's also a 37-minute talking heads documentary with friends of Carne and Prevert and film historians that provides much information and anecdotes about the film's tortuous development - Carne had been having trouble finding a project that would pass the German censors after getting out of his contract with the German-backed Continental Films while Jacques Prevert and composer Joseph Kosma had been collaborating on an unrealised version of Puss in Boots - and its difficult production, which was complicated by wartime shortages (fabric for the costumes was almost impossible to find while the food in the banquet scenes had to be sprayed with toxic chemicals to stop the starving extras eating it), Vichy bureaucracy (because it was shot in both Occupied and Unoccupied France), anti-Semitic laws (both Kosma and production designer Alexander Trauner had to use fronts because it was illegal for Jews to work in French films) and scheduling (Jules Berry was making three films at the same time, shooting one in the morning, one in the afternoon and another in the evening and couldn't remember his lines), and surprisingly rapturous reception from both right and leftwing critics.

It even covers the problems of exhibiting films in wartime - newsreels were shown with the lights on and a gendarme in attendance to stop the audience booing the Nazis, while only a limited number of tickets were sold to ensure that the nearest air raid shelters didn't get filled up, making it's hugely successful run - it was the biggest French hit of the war years - all the more remarkable. The documentary is not particularly strikingly made, but it tells the stories in a pleasingly straightforward fashion and puts the film in its historical perspective even if the transfer is obviously taken from a video master. The film's original French trailer fares worse in the picture quality stakes, looking like it was mastered from a juddery dialup internet download, but the transfer on the film itself is a beautiful restoration job with clear, sharp detail, plenty of depth and no obvious signs of digital tinkering. However, do be aware that the Blu-ray version is Region A-locked. Read more ›