''Carnival in Flanders'' is a 1935 French historical

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Jacques Feyder Jacques Feyder (; 21 July 1885 – 24 May 1948) was a Belgian actor, screenwriter and film director who worked principally in France, but also in the US, Britain and Germany. He was a director of silent films during the 1920s, and in the 1930 ...

. It is also widely known under its original title in French, ''La Kermesse héroïque''. A German-language version of the film was made simultaneously and was released under the title ''Die klugen Frauen'', featuring

Ernst Schiffner Ernst Günther Schiffner (23 July 1903, Marienwerder, West Prussia – 20 March 1980, Hamburg or Celle) was a German actor and director. Life The merchant's son had already played theater since 1919 and received his first roles at the Schauspi ...

in one of his early film roles.

Plot

In 1616, when

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

is part of the Hispanic Monarchy, the town of Boom, in the midst of preparations for its carnival, learns that a Spanish duke with his army is on the way to spend the night there. Fearing that this will inevitably result in rape and pillage, the mayor — supported by his town council — has the idea of pretending to be newly dead, in order to avoid receiving the soldiers. But his redoubtable wife Cornelia despises this stratagem and organises the other women to prepare hospitality and to adapt their carnival entertainments for the Spaniards (who insist on entering the town anyway). Such is the warmth of the women's welcome that not only do the Spaniards refrain from misbehaviour, but on their departure the Duke announces a year's remission of taxes for the town. Cornelia allows her husband to take the credit for their good fortune, but she has in the meantime thwarted his plans for their daughter to marry the town butcher instead of the young painter Brueghel whom she loves.

Cast

* Françoise Rosay as Cornelia de Witte, Madame la Bourgmestre/Madame Burgomaster *

André Alerme André Alerme (9 September 1877 – 31 January 1960) was a French actor. Alerme was born Marie André Alerme in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, France and died at the age of 82 in Montrichard, Loir-et-Cher, France. Selected filmography * ''Black and Wh ...

as Korbus de Witte, le bourgmestre/The Burgomaster (as Alerme) * Jean Murat as Le duc d'Olivarès/The Duke * Louis Jouvet as Le chapelain/The Priest *Lyne Clevers as La poissonnière/The Fish-Wife (as Lynne Clevers) * Micheline Cheirel as Siska *Maryse Wendling as La boulangère/The Baker's Wife *Ginette Gaubert as L'aubergiste/The Inn-Keeper's Wife *Marguerite Ducouret as La femme du brasseur/The Brewer's Wife * Bernard Lancret as Julien Breughel, a young painter * Alfred Adam as Josef Van Meulen, le boucher *Pierre Labry as L'aubergiste/The Inn-Keeper *

Arthur Devère Arthur Devère (24 June 1883 – 23 September 1961) was a Belgian film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1913 and 1956. Selected filmography * ''L'agent Rigolo et son chien policier'' (1913) * ''Flup chasseur'' (1920) * ''L ...

as Le poissonnier/The Fishmonger (as Arthur Devere) *Marcel Carpentier as Le boulanger/The Baker * Alexander D'Arcy as Le capitaine/The Captain (as Alexandre Darcy) *Claude Sainval as Le lieutenant/The Lieutenant (as Claude Saint Val) *Delphin as Le nain/The Dwarf

Background and production

''Carnival in Flanders'' / ''La Kermesse héroïque'' was made by

immediately after his dark psychological drama ''

Pension Mimosas ''Pension Mimosas'' is a 1935 French drama film directed by Jacques Feyder. Based on an original scenario by Feyder and Charles Spaak, it is a psychological drama set largely in a small hotel on the Côte d'Azur, and it provided Françoise Rosay ...

'', and he said that he wanted to relax by making a farce, far removed from the present day. He turned to a short story written at his suggestion ten years earlier by

Charles Spaak Charles Spaak (25 May 1903 – 4 March 1975) was a Belgian screenwriter who was noted particularly for his work in the French cinema during the 1930s. He was the son of the dramatist and poet Paul Spaak, the brother of the politician Paul-Henri ...

, set in 17th century Flanders when it was under Spanish occupation. For the visual style of the film, Feyder wanted to pay tribute to the old masters of his native country — Brueghel, Frans Hals, Pieter de Hoogh — and an elaborate creation of a Flemish town was undertaken (in suburban Paris) by the designer

Lazare Meerson Lazare Meerson (1900–1938) was a Russian-born cinema art director. After emigrating to France in the early 1920s, he worked on French films of the late silent cinema and the early 1930s, particularly those directed by René Clair and Jacques F ...

. Sumptuous costumes were provided by Georges K. Benda. The strong cast included Feyder's wife Françoise Rosay and Louis Jouvet. The film was produced by the French subsidiary of the German firm Tobis, and it was made in two versions, French and German, with alternative casts (apart from Françoise Rosay who appeared in both).

Reception

On the strength of its richly detailed tableaux and the confident manner in which Feyder animated his historical farce, the film enjoyed considerable success in France and elsewhere in the world. The film historian Raymond Chirat pointed to the combination of the admirable sets, the splendid costumes, the biting irony of the story, and the quality of the acting which earned the film a cascade of awards, the admiration of the critics, and the support of the public.

Georges Sadoul Georges Sadoul (4 February 1904 – 13 October 1967) was a French film critic, journalist and cinema writer. He is known for writing encyclopedias of film and filmmakers, many of which have been translated into English. Biography Sadoul was ...

referred to "this important work, of exceptional beauty". Writing for ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'' in 1936,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

gave the film a good review, praising director Feyder for his ability to add "into his ribald story a touch of the genuine, and simple emotion". Comparing the film to Restoration prose, Greene claims that the "photography moves with a fine strut", and summarizes it as "an admirable film, a little obscene like most good comedies, and beautifully acted". Feyder won the Best Director Award at the 4th Venice International Film Festival in 1936. However, even on its first appearance in 1935 this tale of occupation and cheerful collaboration also caused uneasiness, and the screenwriter

Henri Jeanson Henri Jules Louis Jeanson (6 March 1900 in Paris – 6 November 1970 in Équemauville) was a French writer and journalist. He was a "satrap" in the "College of 'Pataphysics". As a journalist before World War II Jeanson was born on 6 March ...

deplored the "Nazi inspiration" of the film. It was indeed enthusiastically praised in Germany, and its première in Berlin (15 January 1936) took place in the presence of Joseph Goebbels. (Yet, a few days after the outbreak of war in 1939, the film was banned in Germany and the occupied countries of Europe, and Jacques Feyder and Françoise Rosay subsequently sought refuge in Switzerland.) It was in Belgium that the film caused greatest controversy, perhaps for the unflattering portrayal of Flemish leaders in the 17th century, or in suspicion of covert references to the German occupation of Belgian territory during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. At any rate, the release of the film led to brawls in cinemas in Antwerp,

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

, and

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

. Even two decades later (1955), its enduring reputation irked François Truffaut who wrote, in a broadside against so-called 'successful' films: "In this regard, the most hateful film is unarguably ''La Kermesse héroïque'' because everything in it is incomplete, its boldness is attenuated; it is reasonable, measured, its doors are half-open, the paths are sketched and only sketched; everything in it is pleasant and perfect."François Truffaut. ''The films in my life''; translated by Leonard Mayhew (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978), p.35. Nevertheless, this remains probably the most popular and widely known of Jacques Feyder's films.

Awards

* 1936 Grand Prix du cinéma français * 1936 4th Venice International Film Festival : Jacques Feyder, best director * 1936

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

, USA : best foreign film * 1937

New York Film Critics Circle Awards The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic organization founded in 1935 by Wanda Hale from the New York ''Daily News''. Its membership includes over 30 film critics from New York-based daily and weekly newspapers, magaz ...

: best foreign film * 1938

Kinema Junpo Awards , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

: best foreign film

Influences

The film was the basis for an American musical, called '' Carnival in Flanders'', which was produced in 1953.

References

External links

* * * *
''La Kermesse héroïque''
at filmsdefrance {{Authority control French historical comedy films 1930s historical comedy films 1935 romantic comedy films 1935 films French black-and-white films Films directed by Jacques Feyder Film controversies in Belgium Films set in Flanders Films set in the 1610s Films shot in Bruges Films shot in Paris French multilingual films French historical romance films French romantic comedy films 1935 multilingual films 1930s French-language films 1930s French films