Le Colonel Chabert (1994)
Directed by Yves Angelo

Film Review

This is a fine costume drama which explores the corruptness and nobility of the human soul in the artificial and ruthless world of early nineteenth century social etiquette.  In his first film, Director Yves Angelo creates a memorable and visually impressive interpretation of a well-known novel by the distinguished French writer, Balzac.

The film brings together three great acting talents, all of whom excel in their roles. Fanny Ardant is captivating as the fragile Comtesse de Ferraud, every much a victim of the piece as Colonel Chabert himself.  Whilst her performance is a little too cool and detached, she manages to convey the distress of her character's position with conviction.   Fabrice Luchini plays the lawyer Derville, the film's most sympathetic character, with his inimitable charm and subtlety.

But it is the lead actor, Gérard Depardieu, who must surely earn the greatest praise.  In one of his best screen performances (arguably his best in the 1990s), Depardieu is either totally menacing or else heroically noble, bringing great depth to a complex and ambiguous character.  We can never be quite sure, initially, that Depardieu's character is not an imposter.  Yet, despite that, we sense that this is a man who has suffered the worst, who has seen Hell, and returned to redeem his name. Depardieu is seldom this impressive and this convincing.

Despite its strengths - fine acting, great photography - the film suffers from what feels like a hasty, emotionally bereft ending, and some over-indulgent artistry.  The opening scene of the film, where bodies of dead soldiers, are gathered from the battlefield and placed on a funeral pyre is beautifully shot but just feels inappropriate for this film, and there are a number of instances of this throughout the film.  Angelo's concern with the visuals shows his artistic flair, but it is somewhat to the detriment of the film as a whole.

Film Synopsis

Colonel Chabert is mistaken for dead during the Napoleonic war with Russia.  When he returns to Paris some years later, he finds that his wife, Anne, has married  the Count Ferraud, and is using Chabert's wealth to finance Ferraud's social advancement.  When his wife refuses to recognise him, Chabert approaches a lawyer, Derville, to reinstate his honour and his wealth.  Unfortunately, Anne Ferraud realises that she risks losing everything if she acknowledges Chabert as her husband, and intends to fight her former husband every inch of the way...