Temptation Harbour

A widowed railroad signal man leads a modest life marked by monotony and a sense of duty. When he witnesses a man falling into the harbor during an altercation and, while attempting to rescue him, finds a suitcase containing 5,000 pounds, his life changes irrevocably. Comfort’s film noir, an adaptation of Georges Simenon’s novel The Man from London, which was also adapted for the screen by Béla Tarr in 2007—is a morally complex and atmospheric story about temptation, guilt and fatalism. Comfort relocates the action from London to the bleak port of New Haven, playing with long shadows, fog-shrouded docks and claustrophobic interiors. The film was long considered lost and only became available to audiences in 2013 after a copy was found in the BFI archives.