The Swallow and the Titmouse

Screening Schedule

Nov 25 (Sta.) 20:00 at Hiroshima City Cinetamatographic and Audio-Visual Library

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Details

The action of the film takes place on the canals in northern France on board two barges, L’Hirondelle and La Mésange, which transport coal and other commodities to regions deprived by the 1914–18 War. Their captain is Pierre Van Groot, helped by his wife, Griet, and sister-in-law, Marthe.
Pierre takes on a new pilot, Michel. Marthe falls in love with Michel but the pilot tries to take advantage of Griet. In addition, Michel knows about the diamond traffic which Pierre indulges in from time to time and also knows where the jewels are hidden. The two men eventually come to blows…

Director: André Antoine
Cast：Georges Denola, Pierre Alcover, Louis Ravet

Year of production: 1920
Running time: 78’
Country: France

Director

André Antoine (1858-1943) : A simple gas company employee, André Antoine very quickly gave way to his passion for the theater and in 1887, founded the Théâtre Libre where he broke with the classical staging traditions. He was director of the Théâtre de l’Odéon from 1906 to 1914, but his exuberance entrained excessive costs and he was only saved from bankruptcy by a gala organised by his friends in 1914.
Between 1915 and 1921 he devoted himself to the cinema and made ten movies, many of which rejected the studio-bound conventions of the time. L’Hirondelle et la Mésange, filmed entirely on location in Flanders in 1920, was refused by its distributor. and shelved for over 60 years. The movie was finally completed and shown by the Cinémathèque Française in 1983.