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De guerre lasse (1987)

Dir: Robert Enrico         Drama / Romance / War       stars 3
Overview
De guerre lasse is a French romantic film drama first released in 1987, directed by Robert Enrico.  The film is based on a novel by Françoise Sagan and stars Nathalie Baye, Christophe Malavoy, Pierre Arditi, Philippe Clévenot and Jean Bouise.  It has also been released under the title: Engagements of the Heart.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


De guerre lasse poster
Synopsis
May, 1942.  After her husband, a Jewish surgeon, commits suicide, Alice leaves Nazi-controlled Austria with Jerôme, a diplomat.  Arriving in the Free Zone in German-occupied France, the couple appeal for help from a childhood friend of Jerôme, Charles Sambrat.  The latter is a shoe manufacture who continues to prosper in spite of the war.  Whilst Charles is preoccupied with Alice, Jerôme resumes his resistance activities, using Charles’ country home as a temporary shelter for Jewish fugitives.  Although initially reluctant to become involved, Charles insists on accompanying Alice to Paris when she undertakes a resistance mission for Jerôme...


Film Review
Roberto Enrico directed this poignant adaptation of a novel by the eminent French writer Françoise Sagan (best known for her international bestseller “Bonjour tristesse”).  Despite the wartime setting and story strands involving the French Resistance, the film is essentially a familiar French love triangle, with two male friends ultimately falling out over the same woman.  What makes this film particularly memorable, apart from the close attention to period detail and some attractive photography, are the full-bodied performances from the three leads: Nathalie Baye, Christophe Malavoy and Pierre Arditi.  Baye is on particularly fine form with her convincing portrayal of a woman who is both marked by the horrific death of one man and then torn between two men whom she loves with equal passion.  Exquisitely understated, delicately composed, but with some moments of raw emotional intensity, De guerre lasse is one of Robert Enrico’s most engaging films.

© James Travers 2005

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