Herr Pierre Van Groot owns two barges. Van Groot, his wife, and his sister-in-law navigate along the north channels between Belgium and France. Herr Pierre transports construction material in his barges but he earns extra francs trafficking in diamonds, which he hides in the boat’s rudder. Pierre engages a new first mate, Michel, who gets wise to the diamond smuggling. The film was shot in 1920, but only shown once in its 80 minute entirety at a private screening in 1924.
Cinematography
Actual canal locations—Antoine refused to fake the barge life.
Direction
André Antoine's naturalism feels shockingly modern for 1920.
Director
André Antoine
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
André Antoine was a theatre legend who brought 'naturalism' to cinema—actual barges, real canal workers as extras, weather be damned.
The film was presumed lost until 1987 when a print surfaced in a French archive; the 1982 reconstruction used stills and intertitles to fill gaps.
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