Black humour and technical feats in this “statement” on Nice where Jean Vigo plays on the violent contrast between the wealthy men and women of leisure and the poor population of the old town. Surprising a character to reveal his/her inner beauty or ridiculousness, giving a bizarre touch to an ordinary situation by including slapstick fiction scenes: this is what makes this social satire great cinema. 

 Jean Vigo distinguishes here between the “social documentary and the documented viewpoint”. The latter requires a position to be taken as “while it does not commit the artist, it at least commits the man”. Based on clichés on Nice (the carnival, the luxury hotels, the casinos, the tourists), he reveals to us the hidden face of the city in a social polemic where scenes are set: an image overlay showing bare feet that are shoe-shined, a woman suddenly naked in her armchair… Beyond the exercise in style, the use of cinematographic techniques (camera angles, slow motion/fast motion, series of crossfades, fast-cutting) is ideal for this work bursting with anger and love, lyricism and truth. 

Source : Saida S.