Gates of the Night is a 1946 French film directed by Marcel Carné

Marcel 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...

. It starred Serge Reggiani

Serge Reggiani

Serge Reggiani was an Italian-born French singer and actor. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight...

 and Yves Montand

Yves Montand

-Early life:Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, the son of poor peasants Giuseppina and Giovanni Livi, a broommaker. Montand's mother was a devout Catholic, while his father held strong Communist beliefs. Because of the Fascist regime in Italy, Montand's family left for France in...

. The script was written by Carné's long-time collaborators, Jacques Prévert

Jacques Prévert

Jacques Prévert was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain very popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. Some of the movies he wrote are extremely well regarded, with Les Enfants du Paradis considered one of the greatest films of all time.-Life and...

 and Joseph Kosma

Joseph Kosma

Joseph Kosma was a Hungarian-French composer, of Jewish background.-Biography:Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Akos. A maternal relative was the photographer László Moholy-Nagy, and another relative was the conductor Georg...

. The film made its debut in the United States four years after its official release in France.

Plot

In the winter of 1945, immediately after the liberation, Jean Diego (Montand), a member of the French underground

French underground

French Underground may refer to the*French Resistance during World War II*French crime...

during World War II, meets Raymond, one of his comrades in arm who was believed to have succumbed in battle. On that same night, Jean encounters a homeless man named "Destiny", whose predictions about him finding the woman of his life won't be too far from reality. Jean soon starts a liaison with Malou, a young woman married to a rich man. The next hours of his and Malou's lives are underscored by extreme, dramatic events; however, as the clochard (homeless person) predicted, they find their way out of struggle and are able to move on, leaving behind wartime and its dangers.

Reception

Les Portes de la Nuit was released in the United States four years after it was first shown in France, where this psychological urban drama, especially due to its depitcion of post-war Paris and close-to-dejected characters didn't break the box office. It's been said that this isn't Yves Montand's best performance, probably due to the fact that this was only his second film. Overall, Les Portes de la Nuit is considered hollow by many with regards to the plot however the settings are deemed fascinating.