The Life of Emile Zola

Brilliant dramatisation of the life of Emile Zola and his role in blowing open the corruption and cover up by the French military and government known as the Dreyfus Affair.

With the rise of antisemitism and media manipulation and censorship, it’s a movie that people need to be reminded of.

Paul Muni gives an outstanding performance and it’s a tour-de-force for him. I also enjoyed seeing Gale Sondergaard as the wife of Alfred Dreyfus.

The film has never looked better on this recent Blu ray release. If you have the dvd and are considering the upgrade, I would throw caution to the wind and definitely upgrade. Not only does it look better than it ever has, it sounds better too.

Highly recommended and a highly important and historical film!

Intriguing overview of the title figure's life and times, specifically covering his heroic involvement in the Dreyfus Affair. As Dreyfus, Joseph Schildkraut is provided with one of the more elaborate makeup jobs on film and won one of the film's three Oscars to go along with Best Picture and Best Screenplay victories. Paul Muni gives a florid but dedicated performance as Zola, helping to keep audience interest for the close to two-hour runtime. The Warner Archive Blu-ray provides viewers an exceptional print of the movie.