edwards drive-in

"children of paradise" or if you prefer the french, "les enfants du paradis", was released in 1945. when it was being made the nazi's have created a ban on any film being over 90 minutes. so the writer and director got around this by making "two' films. the movie is still said to play somewhere in paris every day.

the backdrop of the making of the film only adds to what is one of the best movies I've ever seen. it's a movie that is in love with paris, this being the paris of 1828. it's so good I wonder how I missed it until now. there's a scene where two actors are sitting in a theater talking while a performance is happening. one of the characters looks up at the cheap seats and says "listen to the gods, how easily they laugh". it's a throwaway line, but like many of the lines in this movie it's a great throwaway line.

the movie is cynical and silly and poetic and sad and witty and several other adjectives that don't seem to go together. it's a french film in the best sense of the word. it lasts three hours which go by without notice. it's obviously an epic film and yet it never feels like one. it's impossible to actually describe this movie I think, just see it if you haven't.