In Jean Vigo’s hands, an unassuming tale of conjugal love becomes an achingly romantic reverie of desire and hope. Jean (Jean Dasté), a barge captain, marries Juliette (Dita Parlo), an innocent country girl, and the two climb aboard Jean’s boat, L’Atalante - otherwise populated by an earthy first mate (Michel Simon) and a multitude of mangy cats - thus embarking on their new life together. Both a surprisingly erotic idyll and a clear-eyed meditation on love, L’Atalante, Vigo’s only feature-length work, is a film like no other.
L’Atalante was chosen as the 12th greatest film of all time in the British Film Institute (BFI) journal, Sight & Sound’s 2012 international critics poll.