Marthe (1997) - film review

Autumn, 1915.  Wounded on a World War I battlefield, a young soldier, Simon, is sent to seaside town in Brittany to receive treatment and convalesce.  Here, he meets and falls in love with a young schoolteacher, Marthe.  Although she is engaged to a man who is also serving in the trenches of the seemingly interminable war, Marthe cannot help falling in love with Simon.  Fearing that he will be lost to her if he returns to the frontline, she contrives to have him stay with her.   Simon is torn between his love for the woman he adores and his duty as a soldier…

Whilst somewhat heavy on sentiment and dialogue, this wartime romantic drama from Jean-Loup Hubert has a great deal going for it.  The deeply melancholic photography evokes not just the mood of the period in which the film is set but also the emotional intensity of its protagonists, each of whom is racked by an awareness of the evanescence of life and love in such a period of cruel uncertainty.  The drama is familiar, offering few surprises for the spectator, but it is skilfully played out, with some exceptional performances from an impressive cast.  Most memorable are the contributions from the two leads, Clotilde Courau and Guillaume Depardieu, both of whom bring depth and tenderness to their characterisation, making some moments of the film particularly poignant.  Gérard Jugnot is also worth mentioning for his brief but striking portrayal of a crippled soldier.  Where the film particularly makes it mark is in its realisation of the World War battle scenes.  Although not on the scale of blockbuster war films, these sequences – which include some inventive use of point-of-view shots – are extraordinarily effective, give us a truly harrowing taste of the nightmare that was trench warfare.

© James Travers 2005

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