The Cinema
[ " THOU SHALT NOT." AT THE AVENUE PAVILION. ] A FILM adaptation of Emile Zola's novel Therese Raqiiin is being shown at the Avenue Pavilion—a French film directed by Jacques Fey der. Not having read the novel I cannot judge this film from the point of view of its adaptation, but the sequence of events seemed to me logical and intelligible, and I was not conscious of any " bumps " in the smooth telling of this story. Unlike The Patriot, in which the idea behind the story was of personal sacrifice for a great cause, the tragedy in Thou Shalt Not was of two people who would sacrifice anything and anybody for each other. Therese has just married a weak, delicate, earnest, foxy-looking little clerk. She lives with her mother-in-law above a draper's shop. An old friend of Raquin's,1 an artist; Laurent, breaks into this petit bourgeois atmosphere, in which the one excitement is dominoes once a week. Therese and Laurent fall in love with each other, and the apathetic, lonely Therese becomes a vital, passionate woman. Things look hopeless for these two, but one day Laurent drowns the little husband in the presence of Therese. From that moment Therese and Laurent are haunted by what they have done. Laurent experiences the sensations of drowning in his dreams ' - rings of water getting larger and larger are always with him. Therese knows no happiness either. There is only one way out for them—suicide.
The acting in this film is magnificent. Wolfhang has made a wonderful, but painful, study of the little husband ; Therese, played by Gina Manes, achieves an almost unbearable sadness. One feels one can read every thought on her generally motion- less face. Jeanne Marie-Laurent plays the part of Madame Raquin, her mother-in-law, with dignity and restraint.
The technique of this film is extremely interesting. A success- ful attempt is made to portray not only the external physical emotions experienced, but the thoughts which lie behind them. The film can do this better than any other medium, but the technique of doing it is still in an experimental stage. The photography is unusual. There are no sharp edges or harsh lights ; the tone and the line seem to have been softened: A pleasant effect is produced.
Thou Shalt Not is one of the most interesting films which have been shown for some months. It is completely absorbing, and creates a perfect illusion of reality.
CELIA SIMPSON.
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