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Delia Scala

Delia Scala

Acting

Known For

Before the Deluge
6.6

The title of this French "reality" drama, which translates to Before the Deluge, is a play on Louis XVI's famous prognostication, "Apres moi, le deluge." Set in 1950, the film concentrates on five Parisian adolescents. Certain that the next war will herald the apocalypse, the youngster make plans to run off to a desert island and set up a new society. This, however, will require money, which is why the boys decide to pull off a "necessary" robbery. Idealism collapses in the face of cold reality, as the five youths suffer from the consequences of their actions. Avant le Deluge was one of a group of films cowritten by director Andre Cayatte and Charles Spaak which endeavored to explore the touchy social issues of the day: others in the Cayatte-Spaak canon include the euthanasia-themed Justice est Faite and the capital-punishment tract Nous sommes tous des assassins.

Before the Deluge

1954Movie
Public Opinion
7.0

Following the death of his wife in unclear circumstances, the mechanic Egisto Bianchi is accused of auxoricide. A journalist begins to take care of the case and ignites public interest with a successful press campaign. The accused is acquitted for lack of evidence, but the reporter thinks he can still take advantage of the case by making a film of it. He then convinces some filmmakers to draw from the episode the subject of a film in which Bianchi himself will be the protagonist. During the filming, the reporter discovers that Bianchi's wife was cheating on her husband. So he then decides to modify the film script, including adultery, and to be able to shoot without problems he makes Bianchi go away. But he returns and, unseen, witnesses the new scenes of the film in the cinema of the country. Bianchi convinced that adultery is an invention, protests for the change, but the journalist reveals the truth to him, bringing the story to a dramatic ending.

Public Opinion

1954Movie