Cinema which took its place in history thanks to Lumiere Brothers began an important art in the 20^th century. In the 19^th century, the cinematograph was just a technical machine when it was made; it increasingly was developed and some pioneer directors shot films. It was an unceasing voyage so everything that took part in history affected this art. The first film which Lumiere Brothers shot was about the arrival of a train so it was made because technology affected Lumiere Brothers (Arrival of the Train at La Ciotat station, Lumiere Brothers, 1895).

 In 1927, when The Jazz Singer was made, a new age was beginning in the history of cinema. Silence Films stopped and “sound “took part in the cinema. After this date, everything changed, the camera began to be stand still; players who didn’t have a good voice didn’t take part in films and exaggerated acting stopped. This movement caused to emerge a new trend in France. Also, after World War I, some economic and social problems have emerged in the whole world. These problems caused to go bankrupt for some big film companies so independent directors were freer. These directors began to make films about some distortions in society. The distortion was told through psychological and sociological situations. This new movement/trend was called “Poetic Realism“.

  In films showing some characteristic features about poetic realism, characters encounter some cruel parts of life and they are so unhappy people. They are unemployment and want to find a job but they cannot because the economic condition in the state is also so bad. These films are realistic because real life also so bad at that time; films reflect real life. However, these films are also poetic because these bad conditions are showed in a poetic way. In films, whether is not good, it is usually rainy. Characters are so unhappy and inclined suicide. They fall in love but at the end of the story, they are unsuccessful. Also, there are some characters that are in subaltern society. These cliché and classical features reflect poetic realism. Remi Fournier Lanzoni said about Poetic Realism: 

Poetic Realism also labeled social fantastique brought a new aesthetic to film. The aim was to show real-life represent a reality detached from the mundane trepidations and cliché of bourgeois drama. With its heavy atmosphere of banlieue (suburban) landscape, new film subjects of everyday popular culture were revealed and defined: naturalistic reflections on wet cobblestones, suburban commuter trains in the early morning, factories’ smoke mixing with fog, small cafes in popular districts, in short, realism.

  Poetic Realism emerged in France in 1930. It was established in France because France was an appropriate place for such movement. Dudley Andrew explains this issue:

… France in the 1930s appears as an uncertain youth standing before modernity. A fragile contrivance surrounded by totalitarian nations, its ethos came from a vulnerable humanism already outsized by the realities of the century. France and particularly Paris was the beloved refuge of Europe’s political refugees. It had already become the cultural refuge of American writers and artists. The City of Light simply had to withstand the inhumane political and economic oppression whose dark specter was everywhere evident. If the human still mattered, it mattered most in Paris.

  Even though Poetic Realism was a very successful movement, it took part in the history of cinema for just 15 years. Some important directors shot films in the poetic realist way like Jean Renoir, Jean Vigo, Marcel Carne, Julien Duvivier, and Jacques Prevert. The most important name of this movement is Marcel Carne. He described this movement as “social fantastique“. His films show us every feature of realist film and he also shot films about reflected some depressions of society. Quai des Brumes (1938) and Le Jour Se Leve (1939) can be shown some examples of that. Jacques Prevert wrote some scripts and he also wanted to see one actor in his films. Jean Gabin was a fixed actor for Prevert and Carne’s films.