Monday, October 27, 2008

Watching Monsieur Vincent

Monsieur Vincent, 1948

I remember watching this in an art film festival in Rio when I was little... my aunt Teresa would always find good old films showing somewhere and take us all. 

We borrowed it from Netflix and watched it as a family: we know it is a good film when the older teens have the choice to watch it or not and yet, they stay. The new DVD copy is brilliantly restored and thankfully it does not offer the option for a dubbed version. We had to listen to the original French and read the subtitles. Since most of us have a bit of French and /or are studying French this year in our homeschool, it was a true French lesson!

Saint Vincent de Paul was both a saint who was dear to the rich nobility and a friend to the miserable poor in pre-Revolution France... and the father of charity work in our world. He was able to love both classes by raising awareness and teaching true Love for the Poor. 

The film is way ahead of its time with some beautiful, creative angles and scenes that become unforgettable.  Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1948.

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