Port of Shadows is a melancholy poem of life and death in the lower depths of Le Havre. Jean Gabin projects stubborn dignity and deep weariness as Jean, a deserter from the French colonial army who arrives one foggy night at an otherworldly waterfront dive. There he encounters a variety of underworld characters including a beautiful, troubled young woman (Michèle Morgan), who, like Jean, dreams of some kind of escape-from the past, from the shadowy streets, and from her sinister guardian, unsettlingly played by Michel Simon. Eugen Shufftan's atmospheric cinematography matches the lyrical pessimism of Prévert's dialogue.