LES VISITEURS DU SOIR marked Carné’s third straight collaboration with both lead actress Arletty and art designer Alexandre Trauner, but it’s distinctly different than the poetic realist HÔTEL DU NORD and LE JOUR SE LÈVE: a medieval fable, LES VISITEURS centers on two mysterious strangers who are revealed to be emissaries of the devil. Sent to earth to spread suffering and despair, their mission is foiled by the redemptive power of love. Though Carné’s retreat from the contemporary settings of his previous films into the distant past (and the realm of lyrical fantasy) may be attributable to the onset of the German occupation, many critics have interpreted the film as an allegory of the Nazi incursion and of the survival of the French spirit during these years.
