Restored print

Poetic realism reaches sublime heights in this 1945 classic. Repeatedly declared the greatest French film of all time, Children of Paradise (Les enfants du paradis) is a tragic tale of ill-fated love between a theater mime (Jean-Louis Barrault) and an actress (Arletty) loved by three other men. Deftly entwining theater, literature, music, and design, director Marcel Carné and screenwriter Jacques Prévert resurrect the tumultuous world of 19th-century Paris, teeming with hucksters and aristocrats, thieves and courtesans, pimps and seers.

"From the time it was made until now, decade after decade, this film holds up as a masterpiece.” —Woody Allen