Similarities & Differences In The Films "Human Desire" & "La Bete Humaine"
With a combination of seduction and murder, it is no surprise that both Human Desire and La Bete Humaine are noir films that contain strong Female “Femme Fatale” characters. Focusing on leads Vicki and Severine, viewers may witness these women as victims of men that soon evolve into the victimizer of men. Although appearing to be weaker than men they are also stronger by their power of controlling them which molds them as inferior and a threat to men.
There are many similarities in the remake Human Desire to the original French film La Bete Humaine but there are also many differences that make each film unique. One of the major differences is how Human Desire softens Renoir's dark film and adds a “less deadly” ending but the sequel successfully keeps the Femme Fatale just as strong with their female leads.
To start off, I will begin with the character in Human Desire. Vicki is a clear definition of “Femme Fatale.” Her beauty helps to control the men in her life such as Mr. Owns, her husband Carl, and Jeff. With Jeff having a nice guy personality, it made him an easy target to seduce by flirting with him after trying to avoid being caught for Mr. Owens murder. After covering up for her and becoming quickly attracted to each other, they have an affair. As Vickie strings him along like a puppet, Jeff gets more and more drawn to her. Vickie has had much practiced with affairs after Mr.
Owens and since her alcoholic and abusive husband, Carl has already caught her once maybe it was okay for her to do it again if it helped with them not getting thrown into jail. Vickie, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with Carl anymore since he had nothing to offer her and did not want to be dragged into this mess any longer. Being the “Femme Fatale” seductive deadly women that she is, she asked Jeff to kill Carl and get the letter. The Human Desire movie poster consists of a painting of the main characters holding and looking at each other in a seductive way along with a blurb that says, “She was born to be bad, to be kissed, and to cause trouble.”
The film and the advertisement truly delivered after spectators witness the beauty, faithfulness and trick's Vickie plays on men. I found Vickie’s performance much bolder then Severine in Bete Humaine. In the first scene where we are introduced to Vickie, she is already pulling up her shirt to show us her long legs and new purchased shoes. Throughout the film, it was also easy to witness her sexual facial impressions as her eyes and lips demanded attention.
These examples are just a few that show how her performance was more sexy and flashy. With these traits it no surprise that men fall for her as she lures them in with her beauty.In Renoir’s film, La Bete Humaine, his characters have a bit more complexity and all have a trait that makes them impure and slightly unlikable. For instance, Jeff in Human Desire is a respected soldier and friendly positive guy whereas Jacques struggles with mental behavior driving him to murder Serverine. When we are introduced to Serverine, she seems pure, conservative and proper while petting her cat.
As the film goes on we continue to see the traits reappear. For instance, when her husband grabs her and starts kissing her she pushes him away and says, “You men are disgusting, that's all you think of” this goes to show that she has some respect for herself sexually that Vickie lacked. After meeting Jacques on the train their following meetups take place in the outdoors like a park where they would walk together where Vickie and Jeff seem to always be indoors alone together.
Serverines role was much more modest as she truthfully tells Jacques that she does not need a lover but instead she needs a good friends that she can talk about her troubles, disappointments, and hopes with. To no surprise, after spending much time together she does fall in love with him which is clearly seen in the technical framing of the film as the camera continues to capture them standing cheek to cheek in each other arms staring off into the distance. However, this ends quickly after he cannot fulfill her request for him to kill her husband which leads her into the hands of another man.
The ring in La Bete Humaine continued to be mentioned as it resembles her past with Grandmornin. After lying to her husband about when it is the same from and then revealing the truth it only caused suspicion. This ring provided a source of power over her husband as she wears a ring that represents an affair she has involving wealth from another lover and possibly her father. After this scene, the films pace pick up and Serverine is seen in another light. She is a more complex character from her initial first impression and is a Femme Fatale in the end right before she is murdered due to her evil beauty. Femme Fatale characters for the most part end up dead for their evil attractiveness.
One of the major difference that distinguish these two females characters is the significance of how they died. The deaths differ between Vicki and Serverine, by Vicki being murdered by her envious violent husband and Serverine is stabbed to death by Lantier. These ending defer for many reasons. The Production Code is a vital key to the ending to the American version because of the restriction it imposes as well as the focus on a happy ending for American audiences. La bete Humaine has no issue however with pushing its limits to make the audience uncomfortable as it touches on the sensitive dark subject of suicide.
In conclusion, both Vicki and Serverine successfully portray their roles of Femme Fatale. Although each containing their own charactics with each strongly enforce the sexual evilness that leads them to their death.
