Film Review
A masterfully crafted melodrama that serves as a poignant allegory of Franco-German
rapprochement in the second half of the 20th century,
Frantz is François
Ozon's most accomplished film to date. Being two years in the making
(as opposed to the six months the director usually allows for his films)
it is a more refined and nuanced work than we have come to expect of Ozon
of late and shows a significant advancement in his maturation, both as a
storyteller and as a film director. Ever since his first bizarre feature
Sitcom in 1998, Ozon's output has
been dizzyingly varied both in subject matter and quality, so it is probably
too soon to tell whether
Frantz marks the beginning of a new phase
in the director's career or is merely yet another blip of inspired brilliance
in an oeuvre of perplexing variability.
Frantz isn't Ozon's first attempt at a period piece - his earlier
film
Angel (2007) claims that honour
- but it is the first of his films to be shot mostly in black and white
and to have predominantly German dialogue. The film is a remake of
Ernst Lubitsch's little known anti-war piece
Broken Lullaby (1932),
which was itself based on a 1930 stage play by Maurice Rostand entitled
L'Homme
que j'ai tué. Ozon makes some significant departures from
the original film, first by making the female character Anna the centre of
the drama instead of the war veteran Adrien, and then tacking on a second
part to the narrative in which Anna follows Adrien to France to further their
mutual therapy and a possible romance. Colour inserts are included
sparingly but effectively, mostly for the flashbacks depicting much happier
times before the war. The transition from colour to black and white
is jarring but adds greatly to the impression of overwhelming grief that
haunts the two central protagonists as they struggle to put the war behind
them.
Bereavement is a subject that François Ozon has already covered, with
surprising finesse, in his earlier film
Sous le sable (2000), which
still ranks as possibly his best film. Combined with guilt, the death
of a loved one becomes an unbearable load to carry, and this provides
Frantz
with its devastating emotional core, which is beautifully rendered by some
sublime writing and a genuinely heartrending performance from Pierre Niney.
Niney is an actor who is presently very much in demand after he won the Best
Actor César for his leading role in Jalil Lespert's
Yves Saint Laurent (2014),
and Ozon rewards him with a well-written part worthy of his abilities.
Impressive though Niney is in this film, it is his co-star Paula Beer who
proves to be the film's biggest revelation. Not only is Beer equipped
with a beauty that mesmerises in every shot, she has a gift for engaging
our emotions that is remarkable for an actress of her years. How can anyone
fail to be moved by the fragility and resolve that she brings to her portrayal
of a young war widow hopelessly entrenched in the delusions of love and grief?
Ozon has proven himself to be a master when it comes to playing with the
ambiguities and subtleties of human relationships. The bond between
Adrien and the dead soldier Franz (seen only in the flashbacks) is as ambiguous
as that between Adrien and Anna. From what we see it is apparent that
Adrien's love for Franz was of a much deeper and more enduring kind than
that which Anna can ever hope for with Adrien. The possibly homoerotic
nature of the relationship between the two men is not dwelled on but there
are some subtle pointers in this direction, the most apparent being in the
film's most devastating scene - which is the linchpin to the entire drama
and the reason for Adrien's tortured guilt. Adrien's likely homosexuality
adds a tragic dimension to Anna's desperate quest for love, leading to some
moments of exquisite poignancy in the film's second half where the full extent
of her bereavement and the futility of her illusions both become apparent.
Both Adrien and Anna have a profound need to put Franz's death behind them,
and the question Ozon poses is whether romantic love is the cure or a mere
palliative for a heart stricken with grief. The answer he ventures,
in the film's exquisitely poignant closing scenes, can hardly fail to touch
the heart and bring a tear to the eye.
© James Travers 2017
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next François Ozon film:
L'Amant double (2017)
Film Synopsis
It is 1919 and the human cost of the First World War is still being counted
across Europe. In a small German town, a young woman named Anna
attends the grave of her fiancée Franz, one of the hundreds of thousands
of casualties of the Somme. She is surprised to find a young man by
her beloved's grave, his face a picture of grief. The stranger introduces
himself as Adrien, a Frenchman who has come to pay his last respects to a
close friend. Glad to meet an acquaintance of Franz, Anna introduces
him to her former fiancé's parents, the Hoffmeisters, and after an
initial unfriendly reception they begin to take a liking to him. Adrien's
account of his happy days in Paris with his friend Franz earn him the
Hoffmeisters' respect and gratitude. But not everyone welcomes the
Frenchman's presence. Kreutz, a fervent nationalist who has hopes of
marrying Anna, regards him with suspicion and contempt. As their friendship
begins to develop into love, Adrien feels that he must finally confront Anna
with a truth that has being weighing heavily on him since he came to the
town. He knows it will destroy her feelings for him but, for the love
he owes his dead friend, he has no choice but to unburden his terrible secret...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.