Four young friends share the carefree, cheerfulness, laughter and dances of Bohemian life. Rodolphe the painter, Alexandre Chaunard the composer, Colline the philosopher, as well as Marcel and his friend Musette. Mimi, a romantic young girl, falls in love with Rodolphe.
In Macao, where places of pleasure and arms trafficking are concentrated, a tragedy opposes an adventurer and his daughter whom he has brought up in ignorance of his profession. She is torn from her environment and saved from tragedy by a young journalist who loves her.
Vénus aveugle (Blind Venus) is a 1941 French film melodrama, directed by Abel Gance, and one of the first films to be undertaken in France during the German occupation. Although the film is not set in any specified period, Gance wanted it to be seen as relevant to the contemporary situation in France. He wrote, "...La Vénus aveugle is at the crossroads of reality and legend... The heroine ... gradually sinks deeper and deeper into despair. Only when she has reached the bottom of the abyss does she encounter the smile of Providence that life reserves for those who have faith in it, and she can then go serenely back up the slope towards happiness. If I have been able to show in this film that elevated feelings are the only force that can triumph over Fate, then my efforts will not have been in vain."
Modeste is a timid watchman at an automobile factory which is run with an iron hand by its owner, Roger Drapeau. One evening, Modeste leaves his post to visit a fairground, where he meets the attractive Aline. Having glimpsed his employer, Modeste makes a hasty return to the factory. When Monsieur Drapeau appears, Modeste explains that it must have been his twin brother that his boss saw at the fairground, a nasty piece of work named Raphaël. Not only does Drapeau fail to see through this unconvincing lie, but it gives him an idea to win a marathon car race. Modeste and Raphaël will take alternate turns in the stages of the race and, because they are so similar, no one will be any the wiser. Unable to admit that he has no brother but afraid of losing his job, Modeste allows himself to be coerced into taking part in the race...
Three friends, Fred, singer, Claude, painter and André, extra, live in the same studio and share everything, even their girlfriend. Fred falls in love with a young girl but leaves her when he learns that she is rich. The two friends will try to fix this problem.
Since a mysterious stranger and his servant settled in a manor near a Provençal village, a wave of crimes has beenfall the country and spread terror among the inhabitants. Young Jean Lormeau, refusing to give in to fear, leaves to meet the disturbing owner to discover his secret.
Mathias Pascal, only son of a once-rich family, marries beautiful Romalinda, who has a terrible mother-in-law. She controls her daughter, and soon his home life becomes a nightmare. His only moments of lights are his mother and baby, but both die on the same day. Shocked, he leaves his hometown and goes to Monte Carlo, where he wins a fortune at the casino. Returning home, he reads his own obituary in a paper. They have found a corpse in a creek and connected it with his disappearance. Mathias, noticing that he is now free from all ties to his old life, decides to start a new one.
Jean Renoir's directional debut and first silent film stars his wife, Catherine Hessling, as a young girl who manages to turn her tragic family life into one of joy and happiness.
Sisif, a railwayman, saves a young girl named Norma orphaned by a train crash and raises her as his own daughter alongside his son, Elie. As she becomes an adult, Sisif grapples with whether to tell Norma the truth about her parentage.