Caroline chérie (1968)
Directed by Denys de La Patellière

Film Review

It would be interesting to know what the writer Cécil Saint-Laurent made of this frivolous adaptation of his celebrated 1947 historical novel Caroline chérie.  A garish explosion of mid-sixties kitsch at its most wildly uninhibited, the film is probably the closest that French cinema has ever got to simulating an acid trip.  Its use of colour is so raucous and inappropriately fearless that you almost need to wear dark glasses to avoid permanent damage to your retina.  Stylistically, the film could hardly be more different from the bland and stodgy 1951 version of Saint-Laurent's novel half-heartedly directed by Richard Pottier (the film that made Martine Carol a massive star).  But it is just so über-kitsch and pathetically flimsy that you need to be half-drunk or half-stoned to get your way through it.  Jacques Demy's similarly themed Lady Oscar (1979) looks like a model of self-restraint compared with this eye-singeing cinematic monstrosity.

It is hard to believe that the film was directed by the fairly well regarded director Denys de La Patellière, who had previously helmed such sober works as Retour de manivelle (1957), Les Grandes familles (1958) and Un taxi pour Tobrouk (1960).  It is far easier to believe the film was a collaborative effort by Roger Vadim and Roger Corman, perhaps with a slightly inebriated Mario Bava taking charge of the art design and cinematography.  Released in 1968, an eventful year for France, with nationwide strikes and riots driving the country to the brink of civil war, the film certainly captures the rebellious mood of its time, but it now looks as unsightly and tacky as most interior décor of this epoch.

Attractive as she is, France Anglade is a poor substitute for Brigitte Bardot and Michèle Mercier (who doubtless would have made the central character appear much less of an androgynous wimp) and the star supporting cast (which includes such unlikely names as Bernard Blier, Vittorio De Sica, Charles Aznavour and Gert Fröbe) is pretty well wasted.  The only thing to commend the film is the ballad that Aznavour croons to accompany the closing titles.  Caroline chérie has a certain kitsch charm, but watch it too often and you risk ending up in the mad house.  Mercier's Angélique films provide a very welcome restorative after this gruesome excursion into bad taste.

Film Synopsis

France, July, 1789.  The French Revolution has just started to get under way but, oblivious to the tempest that is heading their way, a group of aristocrats amuse themselves one sunny day in the Bois de Vincennes.  16-year-old Caroline de Bièvre is deeply in love with the handsome Gaston de Sallanches, but her father insists that she must wed the important politician Georges Berthier, even though he is much older than she is.  Nothing will induce the capricious Caroline to marry a man she does not love - until she learns that her beloved Gaston has a mistress.  She then marries Georges just to get even.  It is at this point in the proceedings that the revolutionaries take complete control of Paris.  The guillotine has been erected, the aristocrats are rounded up and noble heads are being sliced off like there is no tomorrow.  Just how long will Caroline be able to escape the deadly lure of Madame Guillotine...?