Les Enfants Du Paradis (2000)

Just behind Citizen Kane on several critics' All Time Best lists, Marcel Carné's masterpiece is one of the glories of cinema. The bustling world of 19th-century Paris is the setting as four men from different backgrounds - - a mime artist, an actor, a criminal and a count - - compete for the affections of the beautiful Garance. The film celebrates freedom of spirit with passion, so it's remarkable that it was made under the Nazis during wartime occupation. Rumour has it that members of the French Resistance were hidden among the extras.

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