Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

“A man has killed another. Now, barricaded in his room, he recallsthe circumstances that led him to murder.” Thus begins Marcel Carné’s masterpiece of French poetic realism, a doomed tale of obsessive love whose innovative use of flashback was much copied – not least by The Long Night (1947), an inferior reprise whose makers then tried to have all prints of the original flick destroyed.

The film survived that disaster, and an earlier ban during the Nazi occupation of France in WW2; fully restored (including scenes previously cut), it packs a greater punch than ever, not least for Jean Gabin’s agonised anti-hero François.

Neil Smith is a freelance film critic and writer who contributes regularly to Heat, SFX and Screen International. He's a long-time member of the London Film Critics’ Circle and was a contributing editor at Total Film for many years.