| Porte des Lilas Gates of Paris | |
| Director: | René Clair |
| Starring: | Pierre Brasseur Georges Brassens Henri Vidal Dany Carrel |
| Music: | Georges Brassens |
| Cinematography: | Robert Lefebvre |
| Editing: | Louisette Hautecoeur |
| Distributor: | Cinédis (France) Lopert Pictures Corporation (U.S.) |
| Runtime: | 95 minutes |
| Country: | France Italy |
| Language: | French |
Porte des Lilas (English: Gate of Lilacs) is a 1957 French-Italian dramatic film directed by René Clair, based on René Fallet's novel La Grande Ceinture. The film is known as both Gates of Lilacs and The Gates of Paris, but was released under the latter title in the United States.[1]
Pierre Barbier, a convicted criminal accused of murder but also hungry and sick, wanted by the police, finds refuge with a kind-hearted boy known as "The Artist." This unexpected arrival disrupts the lives of three inhabitants of the working-class neighborhood of Porte des Lilas in eastern Paris. First, there's the Artist, who struggles with the presence of the outlaw in his home but tries to help him get proper documentation. Then there's Juju, a lazy, alcoholic man who admires Pierre Barbier. Lastly, there's young Maria, who suspects a secret and sneaks into the Artist's house to find Barbier. He deceives her in a vile manner, which infuriates Juju, who is in love with Maria. In the end, Juju commits a crime by killing the man who ruined his dreams.
The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film[2] and a BAFTA Award in 1958 and won the Bodil Award for Best European Film.