Film Forum

(1943) Going hip deep in la France profonde, naïve Parisian clerk Georges Rollin watches the gargoyles come out of the woodwork—that is, gets to meet the provincial branch of his family, The Goupis. But then one of them gets murdered. Atmospheric whodunnit with crisply autumnal location shooting. Aka It Happened at the Inn. 35mm print courtesy of the Institut Français, thanks to the Cultural Services of the French Embassy. Approx. 104 min.

Reviews

“Black, not red, is in fact the dominant tonality of this bracingly mean-spirited melodrama, whose somber, underlit visuals give the impression that the whole film was shot during a curfew.”
– Gilbert Adair, Time Out

“The movie that led him to be regarded as one of the most important film directors of his generation. If we avoid categorizing Goupi Mains Rouges as either pro- or anti-Vichy then it can be seen as one of those Occupation films that utilize ambiguity, cinematic hybridity and paradox to challenge the restraints imposed on cinema at this time.”
– Tony Williams, Senses of Cinema

“Seethes with corruption, bitterness, and ugliness. A classic example of film noir, French style, and subtly but surely flings the corruption and the fear of the Occupation back in the faces of French viewers.”
– Richard Brody, The New Yorker