I have included this film—one of the finest examples of French pre-war cinema—in my collection to serve as a point of comparison with German filmmaking. It is, without question, a work of immense talent. I would like to draw attention to a specific technique employed by Jean Grémillon in his use of lighting to convey the nature of his characters. In this instance, the focus is on the character played by Madeleine Renaud. She is in love with Bastien. Symbolically, she frees her hands from his grasp and rushes toward the bright light streaming in through an open window; she would rather forfeit love than harbor it in the shadows and in lies.