Candide ou l'optimisme au XXe siècle
Encyclopedia
Candide ou l'Optimisme du XXe siècle (Candide, or the Optimist of the Twentieth Century) is a 1960 French
comedy
drama
film directed by Norbert Carbonnaux and written by Carbonnaux and Albert Simonin
. It stars Jean-Pierre Cassel
as Candide, Pierre Brasseur
as Pangloss, Louis de Funès
as the officer of the Gestapo
, and Daliah Lavi
as Cunégonde. The film was released under the titles Candide (alternative French title; USA), Candide oder der Optimismus im 20. Jahrhundert (West Germany), Candide, avagy a XX. század optimizmusa (Hungary), and Kandyd czyli optymizm XX wieku (Poland).
's 1759 social satire novel Candide, ou l’Optimisme
. Set in the World War II
-era, it follows the adventures of Candide, an orphaned Westphalia
n brought up in a baron's chalet. He falls in love with the baron's daughter, Cunégonde, and is thrown out of the house when the baron discovers them kissing. When war breaks out in 1939, Candide is drafted and then captured by the Nazis
, but escapes and joins the International Red Cross. Candide's improbable adventures take him into a concentration camp to rescue his tutor, Pangloss; then he is off to South America (where he endures a series of revolutions), Borneo (where he is imprisoned by a primitive tribe), Moscow (where he accidentally foments a missile crisis between the Soviet Union
and the United States
), and New York (where he gets mixed up in a racial clash). Finally, back in France, he retires to a country house with Cunégonde, Pangloss, and a mysterious lady who saved him from a firing squad
, and settles down to write his memoir
s.
intended to create a film based on Voltaire's Candide, but production was abandoned. The 1986 film Live from Lincoln Center: Candide was also based on the same novel.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
drama
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
film directed by Norbert Carbonnaux and written by Carbonnaux and Albert Simonin
Albert Simonin
Albert Simonin was a French novelist and scriptwriter. He was born in the La Chapelle quarter of the 18th arrondissement of Paris. His father was a florist. Albert was orphaned by the age of 16. His novel Touchez Pas au Grisbi featuring the Parisian gangster Max le Menteur was turned into a movie...
. It stars Jean-Pierre Cassel
Jean-Pierre Cassel
Jean-Pierre Cassel was a French actor.-Life and career:Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite , an opera singer, and Georges Crochon, a doctor. Cassel was discovered by Gene Kelly as he tap danced on stage, and later cast in the 1957 film The Happy Road...
as Candide, Pierre Brasseur
Pierre Brasseur
Pierre Brasseur , born Pierre-Albert Espinasse, was a French actor.He was the son of actor Georges Espinasse and actress Germaine Brasseur while the latter was married to Albert Brasseur. His grandfather, Jules Brasseur, was an actor as well...
as Pangloss, Louis de Funès
Louis de Funès
Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza was a very popular French actor who is one of the giants of French comedy alongside André Bourvil and Fernandel...
as the officer of the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
, and Daliah Lavi
Daliah Lavi
Daliah Lavi is an Israeli actress, singer and model.Born in Shavei Zion, British Mandate of Palestine, she studied ballet in Stockholm, Sweden, where she appeared in her first film Hemsöborna...
as Cunégonde. The film was released under the titles Candide (alternative French title; USA), Candide oder der Optimismus im 20. Jahrhundert (West Germany), Candide, avagy a XX. század optimizmusa (Hungary), and Kandyd czyli optymizm XX wieku (Poland).
Plot
The film is a 20th-century adaptation of VoltaireVoltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
's 1759 social satire novel Candide, ou l’Optimisme
Candide
Candide, ou l'Optimisme is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best ; Candide: or, The Optimist ; and Candide: or, Optimism...
. Set in the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
-era, it follows the adventures of Candide, an orphaned Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
n brought up in a baron's chalet. He falls in love with the baron's daughter, Cunégonde, and is thrown out of the house when the baron discovers them kissing. When war breaks out in 1939, Candide is drafted and then captured by the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, but escapes and joins the International Red Cross. Candide's improbable adventures take him into a concentration camp to rescue his tutor, Pangloss; then he is off to South America (where he endures a series of revolutions), Borneo (where he is imprisoned by a primitive tribe), Moscow (where he accidentally foments a missile crisis between the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
), and New York (where he gets mixed up in a racial clash). Finally, back in France, he retires to a country house with Cunégonde, Pangloss, and a mysterious lady who saved him from a firing squad
Execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad, sometimes called fusillading , is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.Execution by shooting is a fairly old practice...
, and settles down to write his memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
s.
Other film treatments
In 1947 Marcel CarnéMarcel Carné
-Biography:Born in Paris, France, the son of a cabinet maker whose wife died when their son was five, Carné began his career as a film critic, becoming editor of the weekly publication, Hebdo-Films, and working for Cinémagazine and Cinémonde between 1929 and 1933. In the same period he worked in...
intended to create a film based on Voltaire's Candide, but production was abandoned. The 1986 film Live from Lincoln Center: Candide was also based on the same novel.
Cast
- Jean-Pierre CasselJean-Pierre CasselJean-Pierre Cassel was a French actor.-Life and career:Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite , an opera singer, and Georges Crochon, a doctor. Cassel was discovered by Gene Kelly as he tap danced on stage, and later cast in the 1957 film The Happy Road...
: Candide - Louis de FunèsLouis de FunèsLouis Germain David de Funès de Galarza was a very popular French actor who is one of the giants of French comedy alongside André Bourvil and Fernandel...
: the officer of the Gestapo - Pierre BrasseurPierre BrasseurPierre Brasseur , born Pierre-Albert Espinasse, was a French actor.He was the son of actor Georges Espinasse and actress Germaine Brasseur while the latter was married to Albert Brasseur. His grandfather, Jules Brasseur, was an actor as well...
: Pangloss - Daliah LaviDaliah LaviDaliah Lavi is an Israeli actress, singer and model.Born in Shavei Zion, British Mandate of Palestine, she studied ballet in Stockholm, Sweden, where she appeared in her first film Hemsöborna...
: Cunégonde, the daughter of baron - Nadia GrayNadia GrayNadia Gray was a Romanian-born film actress.Born Nadia Kujnir-Herescu in Bucharest, she left Romania for Paris in the late 1940s to escape the Communist takeover after World War II. Her film debut was in L'Inconnu d'un soirin 1949...
: the live-in companion of Cunégonde - Michel SimonMichel SimonMichel Simon , was a Swiss actor. The actor François Simon is his son.-Early years:...
: the colonel Nanar - Jean RichardJean RichardJean Richards was a French actor.born: Bessines, Deux-Sèvres, Franciadied: Paris, Francia-Filmography:*1947 : Six heures à perdre, directed by Alex Joffé Jean Lévitte...
: the trafficker of the black market - Darío MorenoDarío MorenoDarío Moreno was a Turkish polyglot singer of Jewish origin, as well as an accomplished composer, lyricist and guitarist, who was born in Aydın, Turkey, in 1921, and who attained fame and made a remarkable career centered in France which also included films, during the fifties and the...
: Don Fernando, the first dictator - Luis MarianoLuis MarianoMariano Eusebio González y García aka Luis Mariano was a popular tenor of Spanish Basque origin who achieved celebrity in 1946 with « La belle de Cadix » an operetta by Francis Lopez...
: the second dictator South American - Jean Tissier : the doctor Jacques
- Jacqueline Maillan : the puritanical mother
- Jean PoiretJean PoiretJean Poiret, born Jean Poiré, was a French actor, director, and screenwriter. He is primarily known as the author of the original play La Cage Aux Folles. Jean Poiret was born in Paris, France, where he died of a heart attack in 1992...
: a policeman - Michel SerraultMichel SerraultMichel Serrault was a celebrated French actor who appeared in over 150 films.-Biography :...
: a policeman - Albert SimoninAlbert SimoninAlbert Simonin was a French novelist and scriptwriter. He was born in the La Chapelle quarter of the 18th arrondissement of Paris. His father was a florist. Albert was orphaned by the age of 16. His novel Touchez Pas au Grisbi featuring the Parisian gangster Max le Menteur was turned into a movie...
: the major Simpson - Mathilde Casadesus : the baroness of Thunder-Ten-Trouck
- Robert ManuelRobert Manuel (actor)Robert Manuel , a French actor and film director.- Filmography :* 1935 : La Petite Sauvage by Jean de Limur* 1936 : Salonique, nid d'espions by Georg Wilhelm Pabst* 1937 : Orage by Marc Allégret...
: all German officers - Jean ConstantinJean ConstantinJean Constantin was a well known Romanian comedianof Greek ethnicity.Constantin was born in Techirghiol and died in Constanţa.-Filmography:*Poker *Supravieţuitorul .... Limba*Roming ......
: the king Fourak - Don Ziegler : the papa gangster
- O'dett : the baron Thunder-Ten-Trouck
- Michel Garland : the brother of Cunégonde
- Jacques Balutin : the prescription of the colonel
- Gib Grossac : the leader of the Eunuches
- Michèle Verez : Paquerette, the maid of the baroness
- Sybil Saulnier : a lady from the harem
- Habib Benglia : the manhandled Black
- Mireille Alcon : a lady from the harem
- Danielle Tissier : a lady from the harem
- François ChalaisFrançois ChalaisFrançois Chalais was a prominent French reporter, journalist, writer and film historian. The François Chalais Prize at the annual Cannes Film Festival is named after him....
: the commentator of the film - Harold Kay : an American officer
- John William : the leader of "Oreillons"
- Pierre ReppPierre ReppPierre Repp was a French humorist and actor. His real name was Pierre Alphonse Léon Frédéric Bouclet. On 14 August 1930, he married Ferdinande Alice Andrée Bouclet in Lille.Famous for his unique stuttering talent...
: the priest - Alice SapritchAlice SapritchAlice Sapritch was a French film actress of Armenian descent. She appeared in 66 films between 1950 and 1989.-Filmography:* Candide ou l'optimisme au XXe siècle * Who Are You, Polly Magoo?...
: the sister of the baron - Maurice BiraudMaurice BiraudMaurice Biraud was a French film actor. He appeared in 90 films between 1951 and 1982.-Selected filmography:* Le Secret d'Hélène Marimon * Poisson d'avril...
: the Dutchman from Bornéo - Michel Thomass : a Soviet driver
External links
- Bosley CrowtherBosley CrowtherBosley Crowther was a journalist and author who was film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His reviews and articles helped shape the careers of actors, directors and screenwriters, though his reviews, at times, were unnecessarily mean...
, Candide, ou l'optimisme au XX siecle (1960) New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
movie review - Candide ou l’optimisme au XXe siècle (1960) at the Films de France