Children of Paradise

Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis, 1945) is Marcel Carné's French romance, free to watch online on iFILM. Early-1800s Paris, the Boulevard du Temple — a swirl of actors, pickpockets, fortune-tellers and counts, with the mime Baptiste hopelessly drawn to the elusive Garance.

The "paradise" of the title was the cheap upper gallery where the poor packed in to watch the show. From up there unfolds a tangle of one woman loved by four men, each doomed in his own fashion. Jean-Louis Barrault's Baptiste speaks entirely through face and body, never a word. Garance, played by Arletty, leans toward him while a vain stage star, a cold-blooded criminal named Lacenaire, and a wealthy count all circle her. Three hours run by without a slack scene.

Carné shot it in secret during the German occupation, scrounging materials, with several crew members tied to the Resistance underground. French critics have repeatedly ranked it the finest film their country ever produced. For anyone who loves sweeping stories of the theatre, longing and love that can't quite happen, this one is essential. Stream Children of Paradise (1945) online on iFILM.