Coeur de gueux

Epstein’s films “are enthusiastically creative . . . such as [in Coeur de gueux] a long, slow track out from a close-up of a woman’s face, posing for a portrait, into an extreme long shot of the art deco apartment of her suitor” (Sarah Keller). This melodramatic film tells the story of Jean, a young man from a wealthy family, and Claude, a perfume girl with whom he falls in love. After a misunderstanding, Claude runs away with a circus caravan and the rest of the film tries to bring them back together. A beautifully shot film, bathed in every kind of luminescence.