Le jour se lève

Often considered to be one of the peaks of French poetic realism, and the final of an extraordinary run of five films directed by Carné in the second half of the 1930s, this intense, moody and claustrophobic thriller follows the last hours of a killer (Jean Gabin) besieged in his apartment and pondering on what led him there.

This typically fatalistic, existential work was released to significant acclaim before being banned by the Vichy Government in 1940. Scripted by key Carné collaborator Jacques Prévert and indelibly marked by Alexandre Trauner’s production design, it also co-stars Jacqueline Laurent, Jules Berry, Arletty and Bernard Blier.