Hotel du Nord

1938 1h 23m French 7.5

Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance

On the mournful bank of the meandering Canal St. Martin, at the cheap Parisian Hôtel du Nord, the dejected young lovers, Pierre and Renée, take a room, bent on fulfilling an unholy pact. Then, in the dead of night, a nearly fatal gunshot chills the bone to the marrow, splitting the couple, apparently, forever. However--amid a sad but beautiful panorama of streetwise prostitutes; hard-as-nails procurers in impeccable suits; forlorn survivors; murderous former companions, and the police--unfulfilled desires, secret passions, and a dangerous romantic triangle have the final say. Now, in love's name, high expectations for a fresh start and a deadly semi-automatic pistol separate hope from despair. Can life be as easy as a fairy tale?—Nick Riganas