''The Earth'' (''La Terre'') is a silent film based on the 1887 novel of the same name by

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

. It was directed by French

theatre manager Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

André Antoine André Antoine (31 January 185823 October 1943) was a French actor, theatre manager, film director, author, and critic who is considered the father of modern mise en scène in France. Biography André Antoine was a clerk at the Paris Gas Utilit ...

. Antoine was notable for bringing a certain form of naturalism to the theater and films such as ''The Earth''.

Louis Feuillade Louis Feuillade (; 19 February 1873 – 25 February 1925) was a French filmmaker of the silent era. Between 1906 and 1924, he directed over 630 films. He is primarily known for the crime serials ''Fantômas'', ''Les Vampires'' and ''Judex'' ...

observed that these dramas "eschew any fantasy and represent men and things as they are, not as they should be."Quoted in ''La Terre'', Turner Classic Movies, http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/152158%7C0/La-Terre.html Although the principal players were accomplished actors from the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

, Antoine further heightened the film's naturalism by casting many nonprofessionals from the region in the film.

Plot

The story takes place within the Fouan family. The elderly father Fouan (Armand Bour) decides to share his property between his children, dependent on them to house him, feed him and give him two hundred francs a year each. They do not do their job very well, especially his son, Buteau (Jean Hervé), who is gradually dispossessing Fouan of his meager fortune. Buteau has two cousins, the Mouche sisters. He has a child by the first, Lise (Jeanne Briey), whom he married when she became a rich heiress. Buteau and Lise confront her sister, Françoise (Germaine Rouer), in a field. Lise pushes her sister onto a scythe, severely wounding her, and she and Buteau abandon her to her fate. Francoise is taken to a house, but dies from the injury. Father Fouan is left to wander through rain and snow, with nowhere to live.

Location

Cloyes-sur-le-Loir Cloyes-sur-le-Loir (, literally ''Cloyes on the Loir'') is a former commune on the River Loir, a few kilometres south of the town of Châteaudun in the department of Eure-et-Loir in northern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new c ...

in the

Eure-et-Loir Eure-et-Loir (, locally: ) is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers. It is located in the region of Centre-Val de Loire. In 2019, Eure-et-Loir had a population of 431,575.department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and the natural région of

Beauce Beauce may refer to: * Beauce, France, a natural region in northern France * Beaucé, a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, France * Beauce, Quebec, an historical and cultural region of Canada ** Beauce (electoral district), a fed ...

in France.IMDb La Terre (1921) Filming & Production
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References

External links

* 1921 films French silent feature films French black-and-white films 1920s French-language films 1920s French films {{1920s-France-film-stub