Port of Shadows 4K 1938

A true classic. Although sometimes it feels like no other films were made at that time. The film is very similar in mood and atmosphere to American noir films, as well as to the prose of Erich Maria Remarque.

The film, by the way, is quite typical of its time. The atmosphere is tense, the air is literally electrified, and everything foreshadows impending doom. Even the title of the film is very metaphorical. Europe is shrouded in fog, as if sensing its future.

The film is full of different metaphors. There is a dog, symbolizing the loneliness of the main character, his detachment from the world and, conversely, emphasizing his belonging to this world, which God has long since abandoned. A world of people who are useless to anyone.

Incidentally, the Panama bar, a gathering place for hopeless and intensely decadent characters, will soon turn into a bar in Casablanca. Only with slightly more amenities. Here, it is emphatically Spartan in appearance.

If we distract ourselves a little from these themes and the general hopelessness that unfolds on screen, the film is primarily about love. A love that is short-lived and doomed from the outset. Realizing this, the characters try to wrestle a little time from fate. Their love story is a small flash that passes too quickly. They are people with a dark past and, of course, no future.

Still, old movies have that unique magic that today's films have irretrievably lost. Close-ups that allow us to understand the characters' feelings without words are much more expressive than today's love stories. Although, to each his own.