The Life of Emile Zola: Grandiose, dusty, but kind of hits home

Is it worth your time?

If you like old-school, stuffy biopics where people stand around in velvet coats and shout about justice, you'll probably like this. If you’re looking for something that moves faster than a Victorian carriage stuck in mud, you might want to skip it. It’s definitely for the type of person who owns too many history books and doesn't mind a bit of melodrama.

Paul Muni is everywhere in this thing. He’s got that specific, loud style of acting where you can see the effort in his forehead veins. It’s not subtle, but man, he really wants you to know Zola is a saint. Sometimes it’s a bit much, like he’s trying to win an Oscar just by staring intensely at a piece of paper.

There’s this one sequence in the middle where the Dreyfus Affair finally kicks off, and the movie suddenly stops being a boring look at a writer's career and turns into a legit thriller. Joseph Schildkraut as Dreyfus is actually the secret weapon here. He’s so quiet and miserable in that prison cell, it makes Zola’s loud speeches feel almost unnecessary.

The pacing is… well, it’s a 1937 movie. It feels like it takes a nap between every major plot point. Sometimes I found myself checking my watch, but then the courtroom scenes start up and they’re so over-the-top that I couldn't look away.

It’s funny how they handle the writing process. They make it look like Zola just stares out a window, waits for a bolt of inspiration, and then types out a masterpiece in five minutes. If only writing for this site was that easy! I’ve seen more realistic portrayals of struggle in short experiments like Bread, but I guess that wouldn't sell as many tickets to the masses back then.

The sets are huge, all dusty marble and flickering candles. You can almost smell the old glue and greasepaint. It’s not quite as charming as the grit you see in something like The Loudspeaker, but it has a certain grandeur that they just don't build anymore.

• Muni’s beard is a character in its own right.
• The courtroom shouting matches are 90% of the fun.
• I wish the movie spent more time on the scandal and less on Zola’s fancy dinners.
• Everything feels a bit stagey, but you kind of expect that from the era.

I don't know, maybe I'm being a bit harsh. It’s a solid piece of history, even if it feels like it’s lecturing you half the time. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s definitely not a waste of an afternoon if you’re in the mood for some classic Hollywood drama.