Boudo Saved From Drowning
Director: Jean Renoir
Year Released: 1932
Rating: 3.0
The grim quotation "No good deed goes unpunished" get the cinematic treatment by Renoir (still early in his career) as a vagabond (Michel Simon) tries to kill himself, only to be "saved" by a member of the bourgeoisie who takes him into his home. While the point of the picture is clear and cutting, the treatment defies psychological rationale as most reasonable individuals would have chucked the repulsive dirt bag out of their house long before he had a chance to clean his shoes with lingerie. That said, it is something of a landmark for humanist Renoir, who's actually suggesting that some people cannot be reformed through kindness and are better off ignored, left alone or left to die.
