Mor vran
F.: Alfred Guichard, Albert Brès, Marcel Rubière; Mu.: Alexis Archangelsky; Su.: Synchronista; Int.: pescatori dell’isola di Sein; Prod.: Compagnie Universelle Cinématographique. 35mm. L.: 702 m. D.: 26’ a 24 f/s. Bn.
Film Notes
In Mor vran Epstein manages for the first time to fully translate this kind of wonder created from reality. Initially shot at intervals, then after Finis terræ, it is one of the most beautiful documentaries in the history of French film, a true poem about Brittany and the sea. It was shot four years before Man of Aran, providing inspiration for the later film’s most beautiful sequences. In Mor vra we can feel in every moment, without it being too obvious like in La Chute de la maison Usher, Epstein’s science, his poetic vision that transfigures things, and it explains how he could write statements like “the actor who gave me the most satisfaction was the island of Ouessant, with the people who live there and all the water”.
Henri Langlois, Jean Epstein, “Cahiers du cinéma”, no. 24, June 1953