14.12.25, 14:30, Les Enfants du Paradis (1945)

As a refuge from the inhospitable winter days, we are opening our doors for a magical matinee screening of Les Enfants du Paradis. This monumental film by Marcel Carné tells the story of a group of lost souls in 19th-century Paris with a smile and a tear. In the theatres of Boulevard du Crime, actors Baptiste Deburau and Frédérick Lemaître live for their art. One embodies the Pantomime tradition, while the other excels in melodrama. Their rivalry on stage becomes heated when both gentlemen fall for the charms of the enigmatic Garance (played by the timeless Arletty). However, the thief and poet Pierre and the sinister aristocrat Édouard also compete for Garance's heart and thus become entangled in a love story doomed to tragedy.

Drawing on the lives of several historical figures, Les Enfants du Paradis captures a period in which values surrounding art, love and power were radically redefined. With poetic verve, Carné makes his characters playthings of their desires and the changing times. Life as a cosmic theatre play that mercilessly unfolds itself on the margins of history.