At the close of Entrée des Artistes, Louis Jouvet as Professor Lambertin instructs his students, “...For you actors, life is a play.... but don't forget that your own life begins when the curtain rises. It is up to you to go on after it's fallen....” La Fin du Jour depicts the lives of once successful actors whose curtains have fallen. Directed by Julien Duvivier (La Belle Equipe) and written by Charles Spaak (prolific screenwriter whose works include Renoir's La Grande Illusion as well as the films of Grémillon in this series), it is a loving tribute to art and artists - and one of the finest films made about old age and retirement. Its bittersweet effect never crosses the line into maudlin sentiment.
Set in a home for retired actors, La Fin du Jour allows for a mixture of individual bravura performances and excellent ensemble acting by a cast that includes Louis Jouvet - as an aging rogue, seducer of others' wives - Michel Simon, Sylvie, Victor Francen, and a host of accomplished character actors (Gaston Modot of L'Age d'Or fame among them).
“Spaak's script, Duvivier's intelligent direction, and the restrained, nuanced performances of the principals...tastefully and adroitly avoid the pitfalls of exaggeration and stereotypes that they could so easily have slipped into.... Like the characters of Over the Hill (1931, Henry King) and Make Way for Tomorrow (1937, Leo McCarey), those of La Fin du Jour are treated with warmth, respect, and dignity.” --C.A. Surowiec, Museum of Modern Art (excerpt from “Rediscovering French Film,” available at PFA)

Note: Program repeated July 10.