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Review by 🇵🇸Adriana🇵🇸 Scarpin🇵🇸 ★★★½

A Tragédia de um Homem Rico estreava na França há 90 anos.
É um belo melodrama do ponto de vista narrativo/estético da parte do Duvivier, mas não dá para comprar a ladainha do "pobre homem rico", aff, me poupe.
WEBRip VXT.

Review by mattheweg ★★★½

Unlike in America, where directors emphasized dialog and music over cinematic dynamism in the early sound years, the French were too restless to depend on the new technology to make up for what was lost with its challenges (most notably the now difficult to move camera). David Golder is a great example of the inventiveness of this era for the French. The film could easily be silent, which in a few cases, like the acting style, makes the movie a little creaky. But in of pure visuals, shot selection and editing in particular, the movie is a bit of a revelation. This is top shelf 30s filmmaking, even if the story is a little simplistic and the emotional impact of the ending could be stronger with a little less melodrama throughout. I'm very much looking forward to the rest of this set.

Review by TheKinoCorner ★★★★ Liked

MGTOW propaganda. Just goes to show how femoids will bleed you dry and make you work yourself to death!

Very realistic!

Review by PUNQ ★★★½

A brilliant gritty film of money, greed and Jews from the excellent director Julien Duvivier! The title character David Golder (1931) is played by equally excellent Harry Baur, a man dying and seeing his life rot away. While some might react to the stereotyping, it's stereotyping which makes characters, and this is no one-dimensional portrayal of Jews. Multi-layered, filthy and witty.

Review by Matt J. ★★★½ Liked

Based on the acclaimed novel from Russian author Irène Némirovsky, this was the French director Julien Duvivier's first sound film. In a nutshell, the film tells the story of the titular businessman David Golder, who is successful and wealthy, if a bit lonely. Unfortunately for our Mr. Golder, he is beset on all sides by greedy, parasitic family and friends, who only seem to communicate with him when their spending money gets a bit low.

Aside from some stilted, unnatural dialog, as well as some odd editing choices, this was a fairly solid heartbreaker of a film. One wonders if the latter criticism can be attributed to the lack of skill on the part of the editor, or perhaps it was due to lack of available footage from which to select during the cutting process.

Review by pops baron ★★★★½ Liked

duvivier does more here in the first ninety seconds than most filmmakers do in their entire careers

Review by dcwalter ★★★★ Liked

Really exciting to see how Duvivier evolves from David Golder to Pepe Le Moko in the space of less than a decade… but also how Golder’s experimental editing schemes (this was Duvivier’s first talkie) kinda feel more advanced than what came after? 

Like some of the cutting here is so associative / psychological in a way that anticipates 70s cinema - Roeg, Fosse, etc - while also linking back to the montage breakthroughs of the 1920s

I’m also impressed with how well Duvivier shoots both the decadent and the pastoral (loved the age with the reapers)... studio and plein air moviemaking... The shots of the daughter on the beach are gorgeous.

2

Damn, I'm the first person to review this movie since March? I should receive a medal or at least a gift card to Taco Bell so I can try that new CALIENTE CANTINA CHICKEN QUESADILLA MEAL w/ a Baja Blast.

This movie is pretty much all about how women will bleed you dry. Seems to be a recurring theme with these early 1930's movies. That Bugatti was tough tho

Review by Walter

Duvivier’s intelligent eye and kinetic movie rhythms give terrible life to Nemirovsky’s terrific novel. Harry Baur essays Golder’s battered heart with all the craft movie acting has to offer. You can’t take your eyes off this beaten down man. The pudgy hands, the shiny head, the yelping breaths and those soulful eyes that understand what’s been lost—one of the great tragic male performances in cinema.

The bedside rumble between Golder and his wife has so much truth and horror that again we must trot out Scorsese’s facetious works to illustrate the decline of our popular-serious cinema today. Wolf Of Wall Street never comes close to these truths about greed and its unquenchable toll—nor does it dare to give its subject a soul. For Duvivier this is a tragedy that might brith redemption (perhaps for Golder in those last quiet moments/perhaps for the viewer) but for Marty it’s just another excuse to dance in hell.

Review by teamgal ★★★★

This early Duvivier film is proof that the French film industry made the transition to sound with total assurance and artistry. Compared to much of Hollywood's clumsy output from 1931, this is truly elegant storytelling. One can easily draw a line from this to DODSWORTH to CITIZEN KANE.

Review by Jon Johnson ★★★★ Liked

A visually and aurally striking piece of work, with an extremely impressive central performance from Baur. Duvivier and his cinematographers switch between a sort of airy despair with empty spaces hazily lit to harsh, vivid close-ups. Although the highlight for me was the scene set around the Paris stock exchange, with people rushing through the streets towards the commotion caused by Golder’s actions. It’s really dynamic, exciting filmmaking.
The sound design is even more remarkable- particularly in the closing scenes.

It’s a grim film but it was never less than enjoyable for the aforementioned reasons. There are some troubling aspects regarding the representation of the main character and there’s no doubt certain stereotypes are reinforced by both Golder and some…

Review by Ezra James ★★★★½ Liked

The similarities to Succession are uncanny, except here our Logan Roy is more introspective and (somewhat) graceful. A great story about redemption, loss, and purpose. Harry Baur’s performance is among the best of the era, and maybe even deserves to be ranked among the best of all-times. Julien Duvivier deserves more contemporary recognition.