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With: Jean Renoir, Jeanne Moreau, Nino Formicola, Milly, Roger Trapp, Robert Lombard, Andrˇ Dumas, Roland Bertin, Paul Bisciglia, Marguerite Cassan, Pierre Olaf, Jacques Dynam, Lisa Livane, Denis Gunsbourg, Jean-Louis Tristan, Fernand Sardou, Fran¨oise Arnoul, Jean Carmet, Dominique Labourier, Edmond Ardisson, Andrex, Roger Fregois
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Written by: Jean Renoir
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Directed by: Jean Renoir
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MPAA Rating: NR
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Language: French, with English subtitles
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Running Time: 100
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Date: 02/05/1974
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The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir (1970)
Stage and Screen
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jean Renoir's last film, the four-part compilation film The Little Theater of Jean Renoir (1970) threads four seemingly unconnected segments together, each introduced by Renoir himself.
In the first, a homeless couple spends Christmas Eve reminiscing about a past they never had. The second segment, performed in a highly stylized opera-like manner, has a housewife obsessed with obtaining an electric waxer for her floor (with fatal results). The great actress Jeanne Moreau sings in a brief third segment. The fourth tells the tale of a middle-aged fellow whose pretty young wife has an affair with a young doctor. Instead of leaving her or exhibiting violence, he shows tolerance and allows their relationship to continue.
Most critics dismissed the first three segments and focused on the more realistic, humanistic fourth, but that's a mistake. All four segments taken together make this a final masterpiece from the great director.
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