À nous la liberté
| À nous la liberté | |
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| Directed by | René Clair |
| Produced by |
Frank Clifford Uncredited: Alexandre Kamenka |
| Written by | René Clair |
| Starring |
Henri Marchand Raymond Cordy Rolla France |
| Music by | Georges Auric |
| Cinematography | Georges Périnal |
| Edited by | René Le Hénaff |
| Distributed by |
Films Sonores Tobis Joseph Burstyn (1954 US re-release) |
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Release date
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Running time
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104 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
À nous la liberté (English: Freedom for Us) is a 1931 French film directed by René Clair. With a score by Georges Auric, the film has more music than any of Clair's early works.
Praised for its scenic design and use of sound, À nous la liberté has been called Clair's "crowning achievement".
The film opens with an image of a wooden toy horse. Gradually we observe that this is an assembly line in a prison, staffed by prisoners. They sing (La liberté, c'est pour les heureux = "Freedom is for the happy") as they work. Close-ups of two prisoners (Louis and Émile, the film's main protagonists) indicate they've taken a work tool. The prisoner next to Louis occasionally looks on, looking somewhat bored. After dinner everyone goes back to their cell. After feigning sleep during a guard's nightly rounds, Louis and Émile sing the title song as they resume a project of sawing off the prison window. Émile cuts himself, and Louis kindly mends the wound with a handkerchief. The window breaks free and they attempt to escape. Louis is able to get over the retaining wall, but Émile is not successful. Louis escapes, accidentally knocks someone off a bicycle, and rides off on the bicycle. Meanwhile, we hear a chorus suggesting he's about to be captured (Ce sera bientôt fini = "It'll soon be over"). Louis heads into a village emblazoned with the words "Finishing Line" - the cyclist he knocked over was in a bicycle race, and Louis has won first prize.
Louis enters a store to purchase some handkerchiefs. While the proprietor is looking in a backroom, he hears Louis's muffled cries for help. After being unbound, Louis explains that someone robbed the store and made off with the money. He points the direction and a group of people run after the thief, leaving Louis alone, revealing that it was he who stole the money, feigning the story.
A montage sequence follows in which we see Louis transform himself from a poor record merchant, to the well-attired and well-mannered head of an industrial factory that produces record players. Interior shots of the assembly line bear a strong resemblance to the assembly line seen at the beginning of the film.
Meanwhile, behind the factory we see an open field. Émile (apparently now out of prison) has been sleeping, and wakes up to a beautiful day. A flower sings "Ami, l'ombre de la prison a cédé la place au soleil" = "Friend, the shadow of prison has given way to the sun." A policeman comes by and tells Émile he must get to work. But he is put in a cell for resisting arrest. Through the prison window, he sees more flowers surrounding an apartment window and thinks he hears them singing ("Viens, toi que j'aimerai" = "Come, you who I will love"). Then a lovely woman, Jeanne, appears at the window and appears to be the source of the singing. Sad at his predicament, he tries to hang himself from the prison window. But the gate is too weak, comes loose and falls on Émile's head, enabling him to escape. He stands by the apartment entrance, looking up at the flower-covered window, but is slightly disappointed to realize that the flowers are not singing, and that it's only a recording. Then he realizes that Jeanne has emerged from the apartment with her Uncle, who appears to be overly-protective and pulls her away from Émile, and kicks him. A commotion and chase ensue in which Émile runs as we realize that Jeanne already has a boyfriend, Paul.
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