A mechanic (Charles Vanel) and his high-strung wife (Madeleine Renaud) become obsessed with aviation. Eventually, Renaud attempts to challenge the distance record for aviatrices. This film is a little too unfocused at the start - Renaud doesn't even get into a plane until the 45 minute mark. The real weakness, though, is that the two protagonists become real jerks in the middle of the film. Flight becomes an addiction, so much so that they have to hock their daughter's piano to pay for the upgrades they need to break the record. There is a little bit of a comeuppance, but not really. And absolutely none for Renaud - she certainly doesn't learn her lesson. I certainly have to imagine that her kids will grow up hating her.
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robert-temple-19 January 2017This French film entitled in English THE WOMAN WHO DARED has the original title of LE CIEL EST A VOUS (THE SKY IS YOURS). A screen card at the beginning of the original version says it is based on real events which took place in 1937, though no one seems to know what those were. In any case, the story is set in the late thirties in France. The film is directed by the much-revered French director of yesteryear, Jean Grémillon. He directs at a leisurely pace and is in no hurry to cut out the expository parts of early scenes in order to get a move on. He likes to lay the groundwork of his story in a languid fashion. The film was made under the German Occupation of France, and all such films have aroused both suspicion and hostility, many who made them were accused of being collaborators, and some genuinely were. Charles Vanel is wonderful as a mild, tolerant husband to a fiery younger wife, played by Madeleine Renaud with her usual flair. Vanel's character had worked as an engine mechanic for a famous fighter pilot in World War One. He has now become an expert auto mechanic in a small garage and struggles to make a living. Unpredictable events lead to his elevation to a better paying status, and his wife gets a well-paying job too away from home. He has secretly been piloting planes at the local aerodrome, his wife finds out and is horrified and forbids him to continue, to which he reluctantly complies. (She is a real tyrant and forbids her daughter to continue taking piano lessons when her piano teacher has the effrontery to suggest that the daughter is so talented that she should go to a Conservatoire of music and become professional; the mother wants her to earn money, not become artistic.) Suddenly, Renaud becomes infatuated herself with flying and she too becomes a pilot. Husband and wife get really carried away and adapt their plane for long-range flights so that the wife can attempt to beat the world ladies' record for solo distance flying (which at the moment stood at 2500 kilometres). With no money and no support, having sunk every penny of borrowings into their new improved plane, they enter the competition. I must not say what happens then, but she does indeed qualify to be called 'the woman who dared' and the original title of the film is absolutely right.
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morrison-dylan-fan17 December 2020When going down the list of French films from 1944 currently with English subtitles,this title looked oddly familiar. Searching for more info,I found that it was in a Criterion Eclipse set I've yet to play,leading to me flying away for a viewing.
View on the film:
Accused after the Occupation of the film being too cosy with Petain/ the Vichy Govt, the screenplay by Albert Valentin & Charles Spaak soars through the accusations for a rousing tale that pays tribute to the perseverance of people living under Occupation, as Therese stands firm in resistance against those who want to clip her wings.
Landing in the Gauthier household, the writers bring a excellent Poetic Realism quality out in the dialogue between the chauvinist, grease monkey Pierre, and the head in the clouds daydreams of his wife Therese.
Partly based on the real couple Gustave and Andree Dupeyron ( In May 1938 , Andree broke the women's record for non-stop straight line distance,by flying 4,360 km between Oran in Algeria and Tel El Aham in Iraq) directing auteur Jean Gremillon flies the Dupeyron's onto the screen with a continued building of his distinctive tracking shots.
Entering into the heart of the family, Gremillom rolls out a elegant atmosphere in long tracking shots round the household,sailing to future Beauties of the Night (1952-also reviewed) editor Louisette Hautecoeur stylish wipes.
Given the appearance of a odd couple,Charles Vanel and Madeleine Renaud thoughtfully fold this aspect into their great performances, as Vanel gets under the grease and oil to reveal Pierre's love for his wife,whilst Renaud grips Therese with a quiet determination to reach for the sky. -
rolanddegremont13 April 2020I wish to answer to Gavin6942. This movie is inspired by the real story of Andrée Dupeyron, wife of the mechanic Gustave Dupeyron, who flew from Algeria to Irak (more than 4000km) 1938. She also belonged to the Forces Françaises Libres during WW2 as a war pilot.
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gavin694219 December 2016The wife of a mechanic and former fighter pilot falls in love with the idea of flying herself. This soon becomes an obsession and she undertakes a lofty feat: the longest solo flight ever made by a woman.
What I find strange about this film is how it starts by saying it is about real people. Yet, I am unable to determine which real people it concerns. As an American, when I hear longest solo flight, I think Amelia Earhart. Because I have this bias, am I not aware of a similar French aviator? (Or aviatrix?) The film is a good one, but that one detail nags at me because I would love to compare the film to a real-life counterpart, and as far as I can tell, it does not exist. A shame. -
After the German conquest of France in 1940, Hitler decided to create a 'Hollywood' style Nazi film industry to entertain the enslaved populations of Europe. ReichsMinister of Propaganda Goebbels formed & financed the Continental Film Co. of Germany, and it signed up a bunch of collaborating French actors based in the Occupied Zone in Paris where the film was produced. Vichy was mentioned in the film, but there was no film industry in the Unoccupied zone, it was just shown there. To the extent that this successful film fulfilled the aims of the Reich Ministry of Propaganda, French efforts in the film were collaboration. Or,if you wish, French efforts were Resistance in order to preserve what was left of French culture.
The point of view just depended on who held the knife at your throat when the question arose. -
leoperu22 December 2012"Le ciel est a vous" offers a lot of charms - picturesque setting, eye for realistic detail, witty dialogues, good actors - but in some respects it is seriously limited by conditions under which it was made. In the first place, its nationalism is unacceptable nowadays. There's hardly any (obviously) false note in this hymn to the Little Big Frenchman/-woman. As to the scene of our heroine's chat with charmant French soldiers stationed in the desert (are they legionaries ? or legitimate occupiers ?), I'm imagining emotional responses of a recent African viewer. In fact,the general message which enthusiastically promotes Western competitiveness and expansiveness is dubious. In a touching dialogue towards the end - would it be inappropriate to call it anti-Faustian ? - husband and wife recall some genuine values which have been twisted recently by their ambitions. Unfortunately, the film does not end here.
What really puzzles me, are the orphans. Am I wrong to assume that just the aerodrome deprived them of their playing ground, or did the director deliberately stain his idyll with a subversive motif ? -
"A ghost of the aviation/She was swallowed by the sky/or by the sea/like me she had a dream to fly." (Joni Mitchell,"Amelia" on the Hejira album)
This beautiful movie is dedicated to daring women,who were feminist ahead of their time :Hélène Boucher,Amelia Earhardt,Maryse Bastié and a lot of those pioneers who had to fight to make their way in a chauvinist male world.Thérèse (Madeleine Renaud) fulfills her greatest dream :becoming a pilot.This is a simple but moving story.
During the Occupation,the Petainist France set this movie up as an example of virtue and courage ,against the dirty Clouzot's "le corbeau ".After the Liberation,both movies were attacked,the former,for being too petainist,the latter for showing the darkest side of the occupied country.That demonstrates the stupidity of the censorship.
Today's audience will certainly favor "le corbeau" over "le ciel est à vous" :the film noir is more exciting that what I could call le film blanc.But it should appeal to women :in France too,they've come a long way. -
writers_reign20 July 2004Charles Spaak is one of those French scenarists - along with Henri Jeanson, Pierre Bost and Jean Aurenche - who tended to be overshadowed by the mighty Jacques Prevert. Any writer who can list La Kermesse heroique, La Belle Equipe and La Grande Illusion on his cv - and those were just a few of his PRIOR credits, post-Ciel they include Remorques and Le Corporal Epingle - would be almost certain to land a job on 'The World Turns' were he alive today. Spaak has delivered a quiet charmer here albeit propaganda fodder for Vichy. Charles Vanel acts out of his skin as Pierre Gauthier (what, one wonders, inspired this choice of name - with its overtones of Theophile Gauthier - for the two lead protagonists) mostly by NOT acting, or not SEEMING to. He is well matched by Madeleine Renaud as Therese, his wife, who, given the somewhat thankless role of role MODEL to French women everywhere, succeeds beyond the wildest dreams of Petain in creating a flesh-and-blood PERSON. Sterling support by Ann Vandene as an amalgam of those early pioneering female pilots and Raymonde Vernay as the mother-in-law from outer Hell make this a film to cherish. It's strength lies in the accumulation of detail and the warmth of the relationships. With a less surer touch than that of Gremillon the subplot involving the daughter, a would-be musical prodigy, could be seen as over-egging the feminist pudding but here it takes its unobtrusive place in the main story of Renaud realizing her potential as a aviatrix. 8/10