The Marvelous Visit (1974)
One morning, the rector of a small French village comes across a young man, lying unclothed and unconscious on a deserted beach. Intrigued, the rector has the young man carried back to his home. When he awakes the stranger calmly identifies himself as Jean, an angel who has just arrived on Earth. Naturally, the rector doesn’t believe this, but decides to humour the young man. At first, Jean’s arrival in the village causes no upset. He is a harmless soul, full of good intentions and capable of only the kindest deeds. But then the villagers grow wary of him, and this wariness turns to outright hostility when Jean unwittingly causes an accident...
Watch Trailer
Free Trial Channels
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
The greatest movie ever made..!
Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
The great director of LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS, QUAI DES BRUMES, etc. made this odd low-budget trifle in 1975 at the end of his career.It's an old story: a stranger appears, mysteriously innocent, knowing nothing of the ways of human society. Spielberg's version of this story is E.T., where the stranger is an alien from outer space. Truffaut covered similar ground with his L'Infant SAUVAGE.In Marcel Carne's version the stranger claims to be an angel. Appearing naked and dazed on a beach near a small town, the angel is rescued and cared for by the local priest and sexton. They call him "Jean". Jean's lack of understanding of money, clothing, and appropriate social behavior leads to some mildly amusing, if predictable, vignettes.Carné, director and screenwriter, seems a lot like "Jean" himself: innocently trusting that this mild, familiar fable is enough to satisfy a 1970s audience. He seems to believe, as many older folks did back then, that there was something holy and superior about the hippie lifestyle. Jean seems at times to be a sort of sacred hippie -- an idealized hippie, minus the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.The angel is played by a very attractive young actor. Carné's camera rapturously celebrates his beautiful face, shining blond hair, and slim, tanned body without any self-consciousness. One wonders if Carné was truly as innocent as Jean and didn't realize how homo-erotic his film was -- although in 1975, critics must have pointed this out.It's not a very good film, not vivid or original enough to enliven such an old story, but Carne fans should definitely check it out. Its overall tone conveys humility, good taste, quiet honesty, and a love for humanity -- qualities that are increasingly rare among the filmmakers of today.
I hoped this movie wouldn't live up to my negative expectations, but am sorry to report it did.There's not much point listing all my objections, but I will mention the jarring effect, in virtually every scene, of inconsistencies such as the angel's being able to speak fluent French but not knowing what money is.This defect plagues every fantasy of this sort that I've read or seen dramatized, and is enough to ruin the experience for me--I guess I'm just of too logical a turn of mind to accept something so silly.Maybe I should stick to documentaries.
in this film marcel carne tries to show what happens when an angel falls on earth when a beautiful man falls nude on a french beach. He is very naive and everyone hates him for his beauty and his generosity and especially the boyfriend of a nice blond girl.Everyone knows what will happen and it wont be good (or may be it will) A story where love and good thoughts are always on the screen, nice for days of blues.
The angel paints the very grey village after a very grey funeral.My favorite line is when he talks to the priest about the villages belief in afterlife and why people do not celebrate when people die.