You know the drill: WWII France; young Jewish couple with rambunctious 8 yr-old son; the boy sent off to live with a friend’s parents in the safe countryside, posing as a good Catholic (everything but the foreskin) so that casually anti-Semitic, gruff/kindly ‘Grandpa’ will accept him. One of those Life’s Lesson stories, revelations & redemption; heartwarming & a bit sticky, non? Actually, no. Or, as little as possible. Claude Berri, the very personification of a French bourgeois filmmaking auteur*, in his first feature, avoids one easy heart-tugging cliché after another, keeping things honest (it’s based on his own experiences), underplayed in high contrast monochrome (often in long one-shot domestic scenes) and about as sec as such a naturally sentimental childhood education can be. It holds up far better than you might expect or remember. With the great Michel Simon, pants pulled up to his armpits, as the memorable Grandpapa, and the rest of the cast, including Charles Denner as the nervous father, right on the mark. A pleasant surprise. (NOTE: Another twice-reviewed title! Oops. Earlier one (a decade older), listed only under its English title: THE TWO OF US.)
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *Berri, who went on to be far more artistically influential & adventurous as producer than as director, was the epitome of just the sort of ‘Quality’ French Cinema filmmaker New Wavers like Godard & Truffaut railed against in Les Cahiers du Cinema. (See his officially sanctioned/defanged version of GERMINAL/’93 for confirmation.) Yet, so well-liked & respected he became President of the Cinémathèque Française.
DOUBLE-BILL: Louis Malle made a tragic masterpiece with not dissimilar story elements in AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS/’87.
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