Poetic realism was a film movement in France leading up to World War II. More a tendency than a movement, Poetic Realism is not strongly unified like Soviet Montage or French Impressionism. Its leading filmmakers were Jean Renoir, Pierre Chenal, Jean Vigo, Julien Duvivier, and Marcel Carné. Jean Gabin, Michel Simon, Simone Signoret and Michèle Morgan starred in many Poetic Realist films. The films center on marginalized characters who get a last chance at love, but are ultimately disappointed. They have a tone of nostalgia and bitterness. They are "poetic" because of a heightened aestheticism that sometimes draws attention to the representational aspects of the films. The movement had a significant impact on later film movements, in particular Italian neorealism (many of the neorealists, most notably Luchino Visconti, worked with poetic realist directors before starting their own careers as film critics and directors) and the French New Wave. Notable films:
- La Petite Lise (1930) by Jean Grémillon
- Le Grand jeu (1934) by Jacques Feyder
- La rue sans nom (1934) by Pierre Chenal
- Crime et châtiment (1935) by Pierre Chenal
- La belle equipe (1936) by Julien Duvivier
- Pépé le Moko (1937) by Julien Duvivier
- La Grande Illusion (1937) by Jean Renoir
- Le Quai des brumes (1938) by Marcel Carné
- Hôtel du nord (1938) by Marcel Carné
- Le jour se lève (1939) by Marcel Carné
- Les Enfants du Paradis (1945) by Marcel Carné
