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Drama

The Whirlpool of Fate

Year
1925
Director
Jean Renoir
Length
71 minWikidata 71-minute listing Version sources ↓

An orphaned girl enters the life of a travelling showman and a new rural community in Jean Renoir’s early feature.

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Country
France
GentleBleak Approachable · Moderate Drama
A small piece of red-and-white striped fabric floats in a large turquoise whirlpool.

Image: Monocurator · source · Original Monocurator artwork

What to expect

Renoir combines melodrama with an alertness to water, landscape, and physical environment that anticipates his later interest in people moving through social worlds.

How to ease in

The story is straightforward, so give attention to location and weather. The river is not merely scenery; it changes what safety and danger feel like.

Heads-up

A quick, non-exhaustive note Includes child vulnerability, poverty, violence, death, and period social stereotypes.
Momo's Note May contain spoilers Who is Momo? →
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Early films by famous directors invite us to search for the future. I prefer watching this landscape in the present tense, where water and bodies have not yet become evidence for a career.

— Momo

Momo thinking about this film

Credits & versions

Version map

Wikidata 71-minute listing 71 min 71 minutes reproduces the single duration stated by the source. The listing does not identify a cut, score, territory, frame rate, source element, or restoration. Source: Wikidata — The Whirlpool of Fate Runtime reference · Checked 2026-08-22

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