This week, Patrick and Eliana discuss Marcel Carné’s 1945 film Les Enfants du Paradis (Children of Paradise), which appeared in the 2011 Cannes Classics section.

Filmed during the Nazi Occupation of France and released as the first film following its liberation, the film has continued to charm audiences in France and abroad with its gorgeous set design, iconic actors, and wit-infused characters, a result of the core collaboration between set designer Alexandre Trauner, screenwriter Jacques Prevert, and composer Joseph Kosma.

Spectatorship and performance are at the heart of this farcical and bittersweet film, where four men vie for the radiant yet fugacious Gara ...