In Jean Vigo’s hands, an unassuming tale of conjugal love becomes an achingly romantic reverie of desire and hope. Jean (Jean Dasté), a barge captain, marries Juliette (Dita Parlo), an innocent country girl, and the two climb aboard Jean’s boat, the L’Atalante—otherwise populated by an earthy first mate (Michel Simon) and a multitude of mangy cats—and embark on their new life together. Both a surprisingly erotic idyll and a clear-eyed meditation on love, L’Atalante, Vigo’s only feature-length work, is a film like no other.

• 1 hr 29 min
• Directed by

  Jean Vigo
• Written by Jean Guinée, Albert Riéra, Albert Riéra, Jean Vigo, Jean Vigo

• Starring

  Michel Simon

  ,

  Fanny Clar

  ,

  Dita Parlo