A lost 1943 French epic that Balzac himself might've snuck out to see.
“Vautrin” was adapted from Balzac in three parts: “La Pension Vauquer” partially adapted “Le Père Goriot”; “La maison du canon” and “L’adjuration de Vautrin” are taken from “Splendours and miseries of courtesans”.
Acting
Rignault's Vautrin: charismatic, dangerous, impossible to trust.
Production
1943 wartime France somehow produced this lavish period piece.
Writing
Balzac's dense moral universe compressed into three taut episodes.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was one of the most expensive French productions during the Occupation, shot while Paris was under German control.
Vautrin is widely considered one of literature's first overtly queer-coded masterminds — this adaptation walks a fascinating line given 1943 censorship.
US
