Horst in Translation ([email protected]) Well.. if you ignore the last couple minutes and final developments, it is probably a contender. IMDb lists this 80-year-old movie as a drama, but really the only drama in the first 35 out of 40 minutes was the guys deciding who's going to pick which girl. People from the city spend some time in the countryside to relax and some bachelors who live in the countryside quickly take an interest in the females. They spend a nice day in the green and I could almost smell the fresh air through my computer screen. This film was written (adapted from a Guy de Maupassant short story) and directed by Jean Renoir, son of famous painter Auguste, pretty much in the middle of his career and he also played a part in this black-and-white movie. All in all, it was a very chilly watch and the female protagonist (Sylvia Bataille) was truly stunning. I think I recommend taking a look at this one, but make sure you find subtitles if you're not fluent in French.

berfedd Plot: On a day out in the country, a city girl is pursued by two young men.Review: This was a pleasant, short piece, with little moments that almost anyone can relate to. The general setting is a city family's outing to a countryside inn. The father tries to make out he's an expert on everything they see, the mother is more concerned about ants climbing into her underwear, the grandmother falls asleep with a kitten on her lap, and the daughter plays on a swing. Two local lads immediately engage in their favourite sport – girl watching, and the girl (Sylvia Bataille) quickly attracts their interest. After vying with each other for her attention, they quieter of the two boys finds himself alone with her and they share a passionate moment.As the movie rolled by, it did not make an immediate impression as anything very special, but an unexpected bitter-sweet twist at the end helped explain why this short is held in high regard, in spite of being unfinished. Renoir had to abandon the movie because of bad weather and a commitment to another piece of work, but the pieces he'd shot were later put together to make a complete and coherent tale. It may be all the better for it, as I wouldn't have been so interested in sitting through a longer version, as good and more polished as it might have been. Very 'French' in tone, worth a look at if you get the chance.www.thebestmovieof.com

ironhorse_iv Adapted from a Guy de Maupassant story, A Day in the Country is a short 40 minutes film is, in fact, just a part of a movie that Director Jean Renoir didn't finish. The opening lines tell you the reasons why. It stars Sylvia Bataille as Henriette Dufour and Georges Darnoux AKA George Saint-Saens as Henri. They meet by chance when Henriette's father (Andre Gabriello), a 19th century Parisian ironmonger, borrows a cart for a trip into the countryside. He's joined by his wife, Juliette (Jane Marken); his daughter; her fiancé, Anatole (Paul Temps); and his mother-in-law. Stopping at a small riverside restaurant, they are charmed by a pair of local young men: Henri and Rodolphe (Jacques Brunius). the mother has a harmless flirtation with a rural "rake," while the daughter has a more serious liaison with a handsome young man. The two locals offer to row the women down the river to see more of the countryside while their men rest and go fishing. Rodolphe, who has been lusting after Henriette since he first saw her, now has her in his boat and is prepared for action. Henri, concerned about what might happen to the girl, makes a deft switch, giving Madame Dufour to his friend and taking Henriette in his own boat. This movie is somewhat chilling. There seems to is suffused with such an overpowering sense of reality that watching it can make one feel a bit like a voyeur and lustful. The way the men plan their way to get to Henriette is predator like, even kneeing down in the grass watching them picnic like lions hunting. Also the way Henri makes his move on Henriette near the river can bother the audience as we're not sure if he rape her, or made love. The way, Henriette looks at him, near the ending shows fear, but we're unsure if it's the fact, she leaving, or what Henri did to her. This is where the film ends: Fourteen years later, the same family vacations at the same spot. The handsome stranger returns, hoping to renew his affair with the daughter; unfortunately, the girl is now married to a dull, insensitive jerk. The two former lovers ponder what might have been. Renoir had planned to film scenes depicting what happened in the years between the two holidays, but he closed down production due to an acute "creative block." For this reason, although the film was shot in 1936, it wasn't released to theaters until ten years later. For its American distribution, Day in the Country was bundled together with two other short European films -- Joifroi and the controversial The Miracle -- as the portmanteau film The Ways of Love. Sadly this movie will be more likely seen in film or art school, then at home. It's a great movie to study art. Many people say that Renoir's films mirror his father's art looking at the impeccable riverbank shots in this masterpiece. This is artistic filmmaking at its least pretentious and most absorbing have never been more moved by anything in the cinema. It is, despite the cliché, a moving poem and painting and does more in its forty minutes dealing with humanity and all its flaws and vulnerabilities than any other work of art. Renoir transformed Maupassant's cynical view of sexuality and the bourgeoisie with his own more generous and affectionate vision of humanity and changed Maupassant's jaundiced view of the countryside into a rapturous ode to nature. Profoundly loving, forgiving, gentle - above all, immediate. You can excitement of the lovely day ahead, feel the warmth and greenness and the flowing river and the beginning of love. Magnifique! Merci pour ce petit bijou

Jackson Booth-Millard The only reason I saw this film was because it featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. It should be said firstly that it is only just under forty minutes because director Jean Renoir cancelled filming, due to incessant rainy days, and they had only two scenes left to complete the film, but the incomplete scenes are filled with captions. So, anyway it is basically the family of a Parisian shop-owner spending a day in the country, like the title says. There is a daughter that falls for a man from an inn, and they spend time together, and then (after a caption) she is married, but it may not be to right person (or whatever). That's about it. It's short, but sufficient enough. Good, in my opinion!