''Cela s'appelle l'aurore'' (English: ''This is Called Dawn'') is a 1956 Franco-Italian film, directed by

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

. It was written by Buñuel and Jean Ferry, based on a novel by Emmanuel Roblès.

Plot

In a town in

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

, Dr. Valerio is committed to caring for the poor. His childless wife, Angela, cannot stand the place and wants to move to

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million working poor The working poor are working people whose incomes fall below a given poverty line due to low-income jobs and low familial household income. These are people who spend at least 27 weeks in a year working or looking for employment, but remain und ...

of the area, particularly Sandro, a farm worker who maintains the trees belonging to Gorzone, a rich industrialist and the primary employer in the town. Angela becomes ill and wanders the town's slum quarters in a delirium, ultimately leaving the town for a holiday in Nice without her husband. The Commissioner of Police takes Valerio to a mountain village in order to sign medical reports for a little girl who had been raped by her grandfather. There, Valerio meets Clara, a rich young widow. He offers a relationship, but is rebuffed. Meanwhile, Sandro is dismissed by Gorzone, forcing Sandro and his tubercular wife, Magda, to leave their home, a move that results in Magda's death. Distracted by grief, Sandro shoots Gorzone. Valerio hides Sandro from the police, a decision that results in Angela leaving the doctor for good. Sandro leaves Valerio's protection and, when cornered by the authorities, shoots himself. Valerio refuses to shake hands with the Commissioner, and the last scene shows Valerio and Clara walking away at night, arm in arm on the quayside, followed by some of Sandro's friends.

Political theme

Film critic

Raymond Durgnat Raymond Durgnat (1 September 1932 – 19 May 2002) was a British film critic, who was born in London to Swiss parents. During his life he wrote for virtually every major English language film publication. In 1965 he published the first maj ...

has called this film the first of Buñuel's "revolutionary triptych", along with '' La Mort en ce jardin'' and '' La fièvre monte à El Pao'': "Each of these films is, openly, or by implication, a study in the morality and tactics of armed revolution against a right-wing dictatorship."

Cast

Reception

'' Time Out'' wrote "Highly rated by the director himself, but poorly received and subsequently rarely shown, this is actually a beautifully made parable about commitment, and curiously one of Buñuel's most moving films."

References

External links

* {{Luis Buñuel Films directed by Luis Buñuel Films scored by Joseph Kosma French drama films French black-and-white films 1956 drama films