Les Aventures de Till L’Espiègle (1956)

Les Aventures de Till L’Espiègle is a French adventure film first released in 1956, directed by Gérard Philipe and Joris Ivens.  The film is based on a novel by Charles de Coster and stars Gérard Philipe, Jean Vilar, Fernand Ledoux, Nicole Berger and Jean Carmet.  It has also been released under the title: Bold Adventure.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


In the 15th Century, Flanders is governed by Spain, although the inhabitants of the village of Damme appear to be happily unconcerned by this fact.  When one patrol of Spanish soldiers is swallowed up by sinking sands, the villagers are punished by another patrol.  With the village set alight and several villagers, including his father, dead, the young troublemaker Till swears he will have his revenge.  Whilst employed as a jester to the Spanish governor, Till manages to thwart a plot against the Prince of Orange and the Flemish nobles who are opposed to the Spanish occupation.  With the seeds of revolution well and truly sown, Till’s fun has only just begun...

Gérard Philipe’s one and only directorial credit was for this ambitious adaptation of a well-known 19th Century novel by the Belgian writer Charles De Coster.  By the time he made this film, Philipe was one of the leading stage and screen actors in France, although his career would be cut short a few years later with his premature death.  As well as directing the film, Philipe also plays the lead role, one that is reminiscent of the heroic swashbuckler that he had played in Fanfan la Tulipe (1952), one of his most popular films.

The release of Les Aventures de Till L’Espiègle coincided with the Soviets’ decision to send tanks into Budapest in November 1959.  This may have contributed to the lukewarm reaction the film received, and its flop effectively curtailed Gérard Philipe’s filmmaking aspirations.   Although somewhat dated and occasionally very silly (the ice skating chase sequence being a case in point), the film manages to be an enjoyable historical romp, enlivened by a rich palate that evokes the paintings of Pieter Bruegel.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

Write a review for this film...


What do you think of this film?

Recent DVD releases