Film Review
No sooner had director Jean-Paul Le Chanois delivered one box office
winner, in the form of
Papa, maman, la bonne et moi
(1954), than he showed up with another,
Les Évadés, a film
that starts out as the classic prison-escape drama - à la
The
Great Escape (1963) - but quickly settles into another
groove, one that is the forerunner of the modern road movie.
Recounting an incredible bid by three French prisoners-of-war to reach
neutral Sweden after escaping from the supposedly escape-proof German
Stalags, the film is more fact than fiction, since it is supposedly
based on the memoirs of the French actor Michel André (entitled
Un certain soir...).
André not only scripted the film, he also plays himself in one
of the three principal roles, alongside the far better known Pierre
Fresnay and François Périer. Realistic dramas about
the Second World War continued to be popular in France (as they had
done for over a decade) and
Les
Évadés, a well-scripted and well-acted piece, had
no difficulty attracting an audience of almost four million.
By this time, Le Chanois was at the apogee of his popularity as a
director, his obvious concern for important social themes such as
education (
L'Ecole buissonnière),
the scarcity of housing (
Papa, maman,
la bonne et moi) and childbirth outside marriage (
Sans laisser d'adresse) earning
him the respect of both critics and audiences. Whilst there were
still some successes to come - notably his epic
Les
Misérables (1958) -
Les
Évadés was one of his last great films and a
worthy recipient of the Grand prix du cinéma français in
1955. The film makes a decent companion-piece to the director's
earlier documentary
Au coeur de l'orage (1948), an
insightful exposé on the activities of the French Resistance
filmed during the war. The fact that both Le Chanois and Michel
André had first-hand experience of the war is evident in the
film's visual and emotional authenticity, although the casting of
Pierre Fresnay as the most patriotic of the three protagonists is
ironic, given that the actor was branded a collaborator after the
Liberation (through his association with Continental-Films) and spent
several years trying to win back his lost reputation.
Even though most of
Les
Évadés is confined to one small set - the cramped
interior of a railway wagon - it is never dull and has no difficulty
holding the audience's attention, such is the mesmeric quality of the
sympathetic performances from Périer, Fresnay and
André. The narrative even finds the time to give a quick
lesson on solid geometry, with Fresnay scribbling mathematical formulae
on a board to work out how to ration the precious water supply (the
teacher later has a rude awakening on learning that war is
not mathematical.). The
film's slow pace and confined setting focuses our attention on the
developing relationship between the three main characters and allows us
to see how the experience of war has effected them in different
ways. There are some dramatic interludes along the way, and one
or two hair-raising shocks, but for the most part
Les Évadés is a
character study of the most subtle and compelling kind. One of
the most adult and thoughtful meditations on WWII to feature in French
cinema of this era, it also rewards with its poignant study in male
bonding.
© James Travers 2015
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Next Jean-Paul Le Chanois film:
Le Cas du Dr Laurent (1957)
Film Synopsis
In 1943, during the Second World War, two French prisoners-of-war,
François and Michel, succeed in escaping from Stalag B377 in the
north of Germany. As they make their way across country, careful
to avoid being recaptured, they meet up with another escaped prisoner,
Pierre Kellermann, disguised in the uniform of a German officer.
The three men agree that their best hope is to make for Sweden, the
nearest neutral country. After a long stretch on foot, they
conceal themselves in one wagon of a train bound for the coast.
The journey will be a long one and they must carefully ration the small
supply of water they have. When the water runs out,
François makes a foolhardy attempt to replenish their supply,
only to be separated from his comrades....
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.