The Life of Emile Zola

William Dieterle, 1937

The Life of Emile Zola is a biopic released in 1937 about French author Emile Zola. We first meet struggling artists Emile Zola (Paul Muni) and Paul Cezanne (Vladimir Sokoloff) sharing a small room in Paris. They keep each other warm by burning book pages in their floor heater. While at a café Zola and Cezanne rescue a prostitute running from the police. The prostitute, Nana (Erin O’Brien-Moore), inspires Zola to write his first novel of the same name. Zola’s naturalistic novel is controversial in 1880’s Paris. Zola goes on to write a series of novels which catapults him to popularity. In the meantime, the French Army is dealing with treason. They have accused Captain Alfred Dreyfus (Joseph Schildkraut) of corresponding with the Germans. After a (unfair) trial he is sentences to exile to Devil’s Island in French Guyana. Fast forward a few years and we find Zola is now a very rich man. His novels have made him a lot of money; he has gone from a one room flat to an extravagant mansion in which he lives with his wife, Alexandrine (Gloria Holden). Zola seems almost removed from the society in which he was once a part of. He also seems to be repulsed by having anything to do with that society. When he is first approached by Dreyfus’ wife, Lucie Dreyfus (Gale Sondergaard) he is reluctant to hear her appeals. Upon hearing her pleas he decides to take up her cause to get her husband released from his imprisonment. Zola brings to light information that the French government/army has been suppressing in an open letter entitled “J’Accuse”. Zola is put on trial for libel, and though he is found guilty, he is able to bring forth the truth in the Dreyfus treason scandal, allowing Dreyfus to be released from his imprisonment. Zola escapes imprisonment by leaving for England. On the day that Dreyfus is reinstated back to the French army, Zola is found dead. Ironic given the first scene of the movie, he dies of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Upon research of this film I read anti-Semitism played a part in pointing the finger at Dreyfus for treason. I did not find that stood out in the film. I did find it very similar to Young Mr. Lincoln in that the French government was quick to jump on the band wagon in persecution of Dreyfus. In the courtroom scene there is a large painting of the crucified Christ. I found this very ironic as Dreyfus was being crucified just like Christ. After Dreyfus was found guilty of treason he is disrobed of his uniform and marched through the streets of Paris as a traitor. He is marched off to his imprisonment on a tiny island where he is left in solitary confinement for years. In one of the final scenes of the movie he is reinstated into the army, but I can’t see why Dreyfus would want to have anything to do with them after everything he had been through.

Heather Silver