Toni [Criterion Collection] Blu-ray]

Director: Jean Renoir Jean Renoir

Overview

After completing his successful Madame Bovary (34), director Jean Renoir could have had the pick of France's top "name" actors for his 1935 film Toni, but chose instead to use nonprofessionals. The plot was based on a true story, brought to Renoir's attention by the sheriff of the village where it occurred. The story is the basic "good man destroyed by bad woman" conceit: An Italian laborer sets the gears in motion for Zola-esque tragedy by falling in love with a young woman, who then marries his foreman. This terse triangle is given verisimilitude by the unknown players and the location filming at the actual village where the real-life incident took place; what could have been relentlessly grim material is imbued with warmth and sentiment by Renoir. Taken for granted upon its initial release, Toni was obviously a major influence in the Italian Neorealist movement of the 1940s; the Renoir film finally and permanently secured classic status in the auteur-conscious 1960s.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/25/2020
UPC:	0715515250115
Original Release:	1934
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Language:	English
Time:	1:24:00
Sales rank:	20,614

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Charles Blavette	Antonio Canova dit "Toni"
Celia Montalvan	Josépha,Actor
Jenny Hélia	Marie
Andrex	Gaby,Actor
Max Dalban	Albert
Edouard Delmont	Fernand,Fernand
Celia Montalván	Josefa
André Kovachevitch	Sebastian,Sebastian,Sebastian
Jenny Helia	Marie
Paul Bozzi	Jacques Bozzi the Guitarist,Composer
Jacques Leveil	Jacques Mortier

Technical Credits

Jean Renoir

Carl Einstein

Jacques Levert

Jean Renoir	Director,Screenwriter
Carl Einstein	Screenwriter
Jacques Levert	Screenwriter
Marcel Pagnol	Executive Producer,Producer
René Sarazin	Sound Effects
Pierre Gaut	Producer