Port of Shadows

French director, Marcel Carne, was a specialist during the era known as "poetic realism" which took place in France during the 30's and 40's. In this film he tells of an army deserter played by Jean Gabin who makes his way to the port city of Le Havre, looking for a ship to take him away. However, he finds himself involved with a lovely seventeen year old girl and some of the shadier individuals of the town which leads to a conclusion that Pauline Kael described as fatalistic. That may be, but while it may not be the great film that his later Children of Paradise was, his choice to portray the underworld not as hard-nosed gangsters, but as lonely souls looking for meaning in life, is, well, poetic and even a bit touching at times. In some ways, this is the kind of film that would later influence the American film noir movement of the 40's.