A World Where Railways and Impulses Intersect. | "La Bête Humaine" directed by Jean Renoir (Original work: Émile Zola)

Reading Émile Zola's "La Bête Humaine".

1. Summary of the Plot

The protagonist, Jacques Lantier, is a character classified by Zola as a "degenerate," a young man with uncontrollable homicidal impulses. Most of his victims are women, and his desires are depicted as being inherited from his ancestors.

Descriptions of Other Characters

• Madame Roubaud: A Dickensian satirical figure who presses her ear to keyholes
• Flore: A warrior-like girl
• Séverine: A woman whose distinction between good and evil is ambiguous and who is faithful to her desires
Others include Aunt Phasie, who engages in insidious disputes to protect her savings of 40 pounds, and the examining magistrate, who symbolizes the cruelty of the French criminal justice system.

Narrative Structure

Each chapter unfolds like an independent play, filled with incidents such as murders, railway accidents, and death struggles on trains. By intertwining social backgrounds, injustices in the judicial system, and the desires of individual characters, the dark side of 19th-century French society is brought to light.

2. The Design of Railway Depictions

The railway is the stage for the story and an essential presence for the characters' actions and the progression of events. The depictions of stations and trains function as symbols of social structure and character psychology.

Characteristics of Concrete Depictions

Precise depictions of train and station structures (main lines, shunting lines, tunnels, station buildings, steel bridges)
• The realism of locomotive and carriage movements, steam, whistles, and roars
• The shaking of station buildings and bridges, and the reaction of buildings to passing trains
• The lives of staff and their families are depicted as being integrated with the railway (such as the lives of the assistant station master and his sisters)
Relationship between the Railway and Characters
• Trains function as stages for incidents and murders
• The mechanical precision and power of the railway correspond to Jacques Lantier's impulses and the order/chaos of society
• The depictions of stations and trains visualize the mechanical and institutional aspects of society

3. Artistic and Literary Intentions

• Through his depiction of the railway, Zola shows how industrialization and urbanization intersect with human desires and social systems.
• The precise and mechanical depiction of the railway functions as a "stage set" that reflects the characters' psychology and social conditions.
• One can see a lineage of realism that leads to the perspective of observing the lives of common people.

In short, it can be said that in "La Bête Humaine," the railway is placed at the center of a story depicting homicidal impulses and social systems, and through its mechanical and dynamic depiction, human psychology and social structure are symbolized.

Let's look at the 1938 film adaptation by Jean Renoir. Lantier is played by Jean Gabin, who is usually a tough guy. This time, he plays a young man (?) with uncontrollable homicidal impulses.

0. Worth Watching as a Railway Film

Simply worth watching as a railway film. By using real footage of Paris and Le Havre for train and station depictions and recreating interiors in the studio, a tense dramatic space set on the railway is constructed.In French cinema, where set shooting was mainstream at the time, it is worth noting that scenes of trains and stations were filmed at Gare Saint-Lazare (Paris), and time was devoted to depicting Lantier's railway work and train operations. Just having the camera capture the full sequence of a wide-gauge locomotive passing by with a roar is mesmerizing.

1. Character Depiction of Lantier

As a railway engineer, Lantier's obsession with trains is depicted. The psychological description that "work on the train becomes an escape from headaches and violent impulses" is clarified. It brings his dependence on the railway to the forefront as a means of psychological relief for Lantier.

2. Relationship with Flore

In the scene where Lantier reunites with Flore, whom he has known since childhood, there is a depiction where his violent impulses are thwarted by the roar of a train.While the impulse toward Flore is based on genetic and naturalistic observation, the 'accidental deterrence' caused by the sound of the train is a directorial choice unique to the film. By using the presence of the railway symbolically and dramatically, the film visualizes the suppression of Lantier's inner self.

3. The Love Triangle Between Lantier and Séverine

Visual and symbolic elements have been added, such as secret trysts in the rain and the depiction of overflowing rain barrels to symbolize passion. Compared to the original novel, which focuses on psychological observation with few symbolic flourishes, the film adaptation enhances the drama and visual symbolism.

4. The Final Conclusion

Lantier murders Séverine during a fit of impulse, returns to the train, confesses to the stoker, and in despair, jumps from the train to his death.
The psychological conclusion is emphasized visually and dramatically, utilizing the railway as the symbolic stage for the story's climax.

Summary

1. Emphasizing the railway as a device for Lantier's psychological relief and symbolism
2. Using the roar of the train to deter accidents and impulses
3. Enhancing psychological depiction using visual symbols like rain barrels
4. Making the death on the railway the climax

In short, the film version utilizes the railway space as more than just a stage, adapting the story to visually highlight Lantier's impulses, tragedy, and psychological conflict.

Zola's original 'La Bête Humaine' is a naturalistic experiment depicting the intersection of human animalistic instincts and social structures, with the railway serving as a symbolic stage and a device to realistically convey the relationship between human psychology and social institutions. For Zola, the 'human beast' is the human being itself, an object of observation and analysis, and the railway is the means to bring that observation to life.
It is fair to say that this film showcases the brilliant skill of Jean Renoir in adapting the essence of a work that is otherwise difficult to convey through text alone.