La Chienne

Equal parts affectingly endearing and starkly poignant film on class/sex dynamics following such a trio of desperate, wretched souls. Loser cashier/painter falling for a prostitute who's in love with her gambling scumbag pimp. The only way she can survive -- and she doesn't -- in this ugly men's world is taking advantage of them before they do the same to her. Enormous amount of effortlessly brilliant shots and camera movements, like when Simon's character finds the couple on bed, lens framing them from outside, or the entire sequence where he confronts her and we get the sense of impending brutality. Pure heartbreak from start to finish. It really takes a master like Renoir to love every damn character but not refraining from showing them at their very worst.