“The Life of Emile Zola”

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 39, 16 February 1938, Page 11

“The Life of Emile Zola”

Superbly acted by Mr Paul Muni, from the viewpoint of dramatic action, ‘The Life of Emile Zola” is infinitely superior to any biographical film hitherto produced, in that there is no need to resort to manufactured melodramatics, for the highlight of the film is that most incredible legal tangle of modern times “The Dreyfus Case.” Told with compelling sincerity, the picture traces Zola’s career from his days as a starving idealist iu a Paris garret to the days of his courageous fight for Dreyfus’s exoneration. Incidents of his early life—his friendship with the painter, Cezanne, his compassion for the down trodden, his determination to write what he saw without compromise make a fascinating pattern. Here is shiwn the manner in which he came to write his various novels, the principal sequence being devoted to his writing of the book “Nana” (a story of a woman of the streets), which led to fame and wealth. Here also is shown how he roused from the complacency which came with success by the affair which was to stir the entire world—the trial of Alfred Dreyfus. Zola’s championship of the unfortunate French j captain is related m a succession of stirring episodes—his willingness to sacrifice his career and reputation by an alliance with a lost cause; his writing of tnc famous ‘J’ Accuse’ the open letter to tho president of France; his own trial for libel with its judicial travesty, its devasting and far-reach-ing political explosions, and finally its aftermath, which established Dreyfus’s innocence. Warner Bros, are indeed to be congratulated iu giving to the world such a magnificent screen achievement as “Zola.”