L'INHUMAINE
1924
Marcel L’Herbier
SYNOPSIS
Claire Lescot, a famous cold-hearted diva, drives men to madness until a young engineer fakes his suicide to teach her a lesson in humanity. She visits his futuristic laboratory, where he uses strange scientific apparatus to revive her dormant heart. Famous for its stunning Art Deco sets designed by masters like Fernand Léger, this visual symphony blends avant-garde aesthetics with melodrama to create a controversial, dazzling synthesis of the cinematic art form.
CRITIQUE
Marcel L’Herbier’s film is a dazzling manifesto of the French avant-garde, prioritizing visual style over narrative logic. Bringing together the era's greatest artists, including Fernand Léger and Robert Mallet-Stevens, it serves as a time capsule of the Art Deco movement. Its rapid editing and cubist sets challenged audience perceptions, treating cinema as a synthesis of all arts. While divisive upon release, it is now recognized as a bold experiment in 'pure cinema,' pushing the medium toward visual abstraction and influencing modern music video aesthetics.