Director: Jean Renoir
Country: France
Award: none
Movement: French Impressionism
Nana is a 1926 French silent drama film directed by Jean Renoir and starring Catherine Hessling, Werner Krauss and Jean Angelo. It was Renoir's second full-length film and is based on the 1880 novel by Émile Zola. It was shot at the Bavaria Studios in Munich and the Neuilly Studios in Paris. The film's sets were designed by the art director Claude Autant-Lara. The story takes place during the Second Empire in France. Nana, a theatre actress, puts on light-hearted plays that the Parisian bourgeoisie come to see. Thanks to her success with men, she becomes a rich and adored courtesan, so much so that she leaves the stage and is maintained. One young man even commits suicide to keep Nana's favour. The Count of Muffat becomes the man who ruins himself to support her and satisfy her excessive needs. Nana cheats on him and wastes his money on the grandiose parties she organises. One day, driven by her desire to perform, she returns to the stage. Some time later, she contracts smallpox and dies.
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