La Bête Humaine

(1938)

★ 7.1 IMDb · 249 votes

Genres: Drama, Romance, Thriller

Year: 1938

Runtime: 100 мин

Country: France

Director: Jean Renoir

Cast: Жан Габен, Симона Симон, Fernand Ledoux, Julien Carette, Blanchette Brunoy, Gérard Landry, Jenny Hélia, Colette Régis, Claire Gérard, Charlotte Clasis

Plot

Returning by train to the French port of Le Havre, Jacques Lantier, a tormented railwayman, meets by chance the impulsive stationmaster Roubard and Séverine, his wife.

Jacques Lantier is a train engineer who is prone to violent seizures, a condition he attributes to his forefathers' habit of excessive drinking. Roubaud is a train conductor on the same railroad that Lantier works on, married to the much younger Séverine. After Roubaud catches wind of his wife's affair with her godfather, the wealthy M. Grandmorin, he kills him during a train journey in a fit of jealousy. He makes sure that Séverine is also present, making her an accomplice to murder. Lantier, despite having witnessed them quite clearly in the train corridor, hides the fact during the investigation as he is attracted to Séverine. They begin an affair, while Roubaud becomes increasingly withdrawn and starts to gamble. Séverine urges Lantier to kill her husband so that they would be free, but she is unaware of Lantier's unfortunate condition.