Coming Soon
WHO KILLED SANTA CLAUS?
1941
Director
Christian-Jaque
Starring
Harry Baur
Raymond Rouleau
Renée Faure
Runtime
105 minutes
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It’s Christmas Eve in a snowy French mountain village and a body is discovered, dressed as Santa. Hysteria soon spreads and accusations fly. The first film produced in occupied France by the German controlled Continental Films, who regulated film production under the occupation, WHO KILLED SANTA CLAUS? probably the most festive film ever produced by Nazis. More than a fireside mystery for a chilly night, Christian-Jaque creates a parable for collaboration, and subversively portrays a perilous moment in French history, when neighbors denounced each other and wondered who was to be trusted.
"Christian-Jaque is a stylist, an aesthete, the kind of filmic dandy often frowned upon by those with a fetish for rigor and simplicity. In his work, the serpentine movements of Ophuls unite with the zip and bang of '30s Warner Brothers. Upon entering a set (after arcing and spiraling around on location), his camera pushes forward while craning its neck in all directions, like a small child in a sweetie shop. It's too focused and clear in intent to be called hyperactive, but it's energetic as hell, and beautiful to boot. It's astounding that French cinema survived both the loss of independence and the loss of so much talent and actually experienced a boom in a certain kind of cinema which evaded censorship by an ascent into fantasy, and discovered there strange allegories for the country's plight." - David Cairns
A brand new restoration courtesy of The Film Desk.
"Christian-Jaque is a stylist, an aesthete, the kind of filmic dandy often frowned upon by those with a fetish for rigor and simplicity. In his work, the serpentine movements of Ophuls unite with the zip and bang of '30s Warner Brothers. Upon entering a set (after arcing and spiraling around on location), his camera pushes forward while craning its neck in all directions, like a small child in a sweetie shop. It's too focused and clear in intent to be called hyperactive, but it's energetic as hell, and beautiful to boot. It's astounding that French cinema survived both the loss of independence and the loss of so much talent and actually experienced a boom in a certain kind of cinema which evaded censorship by an ascent into fantasy, and discovered there strange allegories for the country's plight." - David Cairns
A brand new restoration courtesy of The Film Desk.