The Life of Emile Zola is a 1937 American biographical film about French author Émile Zola. Set in the mid through late 19th century, it depicts his friendship with noted painter Paul Cézanne, and his rise to fame through his prolific writing, with particular focus on his involvement in the Dreyfus affair. The film had its premiere at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Los Angeles and was a great success both critically and financially; contemporary reviews cited it as the best biographical film made up to that time. It is still held in high regard by many critics. It is the second biographical film to win the Oscar for Best Picture.
In 2000, The Life of Emile Zola was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“Young, and so thin, and so straight.
So straight! as if nothing could ever bend her.
But poor men would bend her, and doing things with poor men,
Being much in bed, and babies would bend her over,
And the rest of things in life that were for poor women,
Coming to them grinning and pretty with intent to bend and to kill.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)