Hotel Du Nord is a gripping drama of guilt in which Marcel Carne portrayed an entertaining tale of ill-fated love which also functions as a revolt against the cruel world.The film is based entirely on a pair of hapless lovers.Pierre and Renee were mistaken when they believed that suicide would put an end to their misery.Hotel Du Nord has its own inimitable charm as its inhabitants have become an essential part of the establishment.There is an element of togetherness as everyone flocks to Hotel Du Nord to eat,chat etc.Marcel Carne has remained true to the spirit of the films produced in 30s and 40s as Hotel Du Nord has a certain kind of nostalgic feel.Carne,while recreating the life of Parisian roads was able to create a sort of nostalgia for black and white giving a unique genre of poetic realism to his oeuvre.Hotel Du Nord can be termed as a quintessence of cinematographic populism.The 14th July ball scene on the banks of Saint Martin canal remains a magnificent sequence.The film's immense popularity can be judged from the fact that Hotel Du Nord has been declared as a national monument.

Annabella and Jean-Pierre Aumont check into the Hotel du Nord. The are shown to their room and talk about killing themselves. Then Aumont shoots Annabella and runs away.

Looking at Marcel Carne's movies from before the Second World War, one is continually struck by his poetic realism. At times it seems as if he is trying to direct movies like Julien Duvivier, except that his characters are not archetypes doomed by some grand fate. They're just people, struggling for a bit of happiness, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. Duvivier, one gets the impression, doesn't really like his characters. Carne is willing to judge them on their own merits, with an almost Olympian sense of humor.

Others might prefer one movie or the other, but this is my personal favorite, because of the wonderful way in which the characters ar written and depicted by fine actors. No doubt, a great part of this is due to the source of this movie, a novel by Eugene Dabit, that had me thinking "Maybe not everyone comes to Hotel du Nord, but they're very interesting people": the kindly proprietors; the simple and slovenly housekeeper; but most of all Arletty as a prostitute and Louis Jouvet as her creepy and looks-obsessed kept man, who grows slowly throughout the movie.

You might prefer another Carne film or none at all. I can't fault you for differing in taste from me. I'll still stick with my call for this as Carne's best and a great movie.

A fairly intriguing mood piece from Marcel Carne loosely based upon a book involving various tales of persons staying at the Hotel du Nord at the side of the Canal Saint-Martin. I have stayed close to this very spot myself and what was considered very much a working class spot is now much regenerated but still most recognisable. Recognisable, that is from the sets built by Carne for there is no location shooting in this 1938 film, the set apparently being so famous (and costly) at the time that the public were encouraged to visit and even dine under artificial lighting in the evenings. The film itself does not begin well and although of the two young but desperate lovers, the lovely Annabella is fine her young man played by Jean-Pierre Aumont is very bland and spouting seemingly silliness by comparison. Incredibly it turns out that the writer had objected to the choice of the actor and when thwarted deliberately gave him flat dialogue in spite. Whatever the reason this begins a little oddly, becomes very strange and settles into being a fairly diverting amusement, if that is not damning this with too faint an amount of praise. At best I would consider this an interesting insight into a strange moment in time for the French with their imminent capitulation to the Germans. Officially considered part of a limited movement known as 'poetic realism', I find the term a rather appropriate oxymoron, despite the film coming to life a little as Annabella's character interacts effectively, if not altogether believably, with those around her. I would just mention the older and more prominent couple also staying at the hotel, a prostitute and here pimp. The latter is played somewhat stiffly by Louis Jovvet, more used to working on the stage, but the jolly lady of the night is played in a much more spirited fashion by Arletty and is probably the most lively element of the film.