La Fille De L'eau (aka Whirlpool Of Fate) (1925)

Set in the late 19th century, a young orphan girl (Catherine Hessling) runs away from the clutches of her brutal uncle (Pierre Lestringuez, who also wrote the screenplay) and joins a group of gypsies involved in petty crimes. Directed by Jean Renoir (RULES OF THE GAME) in his directorial film debut though you'd never know it was a first time film as he already directs with an assured hand. Still, I wouldn't call it one of his better movies. Hessling is as put upon as Lillian Gish in a D.W. Griffith film, always in danger and always rescued in the nick of time. The most unusual aspect of the film has Hessling having a surrealistic nightmare. It's a hallucinatory experience that's more reminiscent of Bunuel's early avant garde film making than we've come to expect from Renoir. Nevertheless, as cinema it's an important document announcing the emergence of one of the great film makers of the 20th century. With Harold Levingston, Pierre Champagne and Madame Fockenberghe.