L’Inhumaine (The Inhuman Woman)

France, 1924. Director Marcel L'Herbier. 135min.

Anticipating the 1925 Paris Exposition, this cult science-fiction drama was conceived as an ambitious opera arte totale on which L’Herbier famously collaborated with many prominent figures of the inter-war cultural avant-garde, including designers Alberto Cavalcanti and Claude Autant-Lara, couturier Paul Poiret and glassmaker René Lalique. Against imposing Modernist sets by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens and artist Fernand Léger, a young scientist falls in love with the opera singer Claire Lescot and decides to commit suicide after she mocks his advances.

With Jaque Catelain, Georgette Leblanc and Philippe Hériat.
Costumes by Paul Poiret, Yose and Maison Granier.

Past screenings:

Marcel L’Herbier: Fabricating Dreams – London
Saturday 18 May 2013, 16:00 | Barbican
With introduction by Caroline Evans.