En Passant par la Lorraine

The second film by the director of Le Sang des Bêtes is an evocation of Lorraine, in a form that skilfully blends past and present: the memorial to Jeanne d'Arc at Domremy, and the traces of devastation in the 1914-18 war; Metz cathedral and a village fair; the Merlebach mines and the huge factories at Hagondage. Franju's interweaving of the picturesque, the human, and the industrial shows an original talent; Kos.ma's score is particularly attractive.