Les Innocents (1987)
Directed by André Téchiné

Film Review

France's ambivalent relationship with North Africa is pointedly expressed in terms of a Greek tragedy in this hauntingly lyrical film from André Téchiné, one of his few films to confront head-on the political realities of his time.  The story - a darkly introspective retelling of West Side Story - is engaging but what makes the film so laudable is the intelligence and delicacy with which it tackles what was (at the time) a pretty well taboo subject in French cinema: racism.  Les Innocents is one of the most succinct and socially relevant of Téchiné's films, and it provides a subtle but effective allegory of France's faltering attempts to put its colonial past behind it in the protracted aftermath of Algerian independence.

A dazzling new talent, Sandrine Bonnaire was perfect for the role of the central heroine Jeanne - the name being an allusion, possibly, to France's national heroine, Joan of Arc, whom the actress would later play in the two-part film Jeanne la Pucelle (1994)).  Jeanne and her younger brother Alain are easily recognised as the 'innocents' of the film's title, two untainted children on the threshold of adulthood who are divided by their opposing allegiances, first to the place where they want to live (the north and south of France), then to the individuals they are most strongly attracted to (Stéphane and Saïd).  The dichotomy turns out to be not so black-and-white as it first seems, and even before Stéphane's racist crimes are exposed Jeanne is already on the way to falling in love with Saïd.  It is at this point that the real 'innocents' are revealed to us - Stéphane and Saïd, the bitterest of enemies in life, united in an ignominious death, just two more victims of the incessant blood feud that has plagued humanity since the year dot.  Memories of the Algerian War flood over us as we take in the film's final devastating shot and we are compelled to ask ourselves: why?

Whilst André Téchiné deserves praise, both for his writing and direction, these are quite modest achievements compared with the area in which Les Innocents truly excels - the quality of the performances from its exemplary principal cast.  Sandrine Bonnaire's talents had previously been in evidence in Maurice Pialat's À nos amours (1983) and Agnès Varda's Sans toit ni loi (1985) but here she emerges as a fully fledged actress, with a striking Jean Seberg haircut that accentuates her fragility and vitality to heart-breaking proportions.  Bonnaire's vulnerability is mirrored by her co-star Simon de La Brosse, heroically convincing as a rudderless post-adolescent trying (and failing) to resist the comforting allure of the grave.  Despite his immense sensitivity as an actor and striking good looks, Simon de La Brosse never achieved the national and international stardom he merited but he was a favourite with auteur filmmakers - Éric Rohmer (Pauline à la plage), Jacques Doillon (La Vie de famille) and Claude Miller (La Petite Voleuse).  His promising career was cut short in 1998 when he committed suicide at the age of 32 - a parting that was an inestimable loss to French cinema. 

Equally worthy of praise is Jean-Claude Brialy's blisteringly authentic portrayal of an alcoholic conductor whose passions threaten to drive him to distraction - it was for this performance that the actor won his one and only César (for Best Supporting Actor).  And, completing a remarkable quartet, is a charismatic young actor named Abdellatif Kechiche, who would, many years later, come to prominence as a world-renowned director with such films as L'Esquive (2003) and La Graine et le mulet (2007).  André Téchiné was always fortunate with his choice of cast and for Les Innocents he was four-times blessed.  The film is somewhat overshadowed by the director's subsequent great works but it deserves never to be overlooked, one of his most eloquent and pertinent expressions of the tragedy of the human condition.

Film Synopsis

Jeanne, a young woman from the north of France, travels to the Mediterranean sea town of Toulon to attend the wedding of her older sister to a North African man.  She uses the visit as an excuse to patch things up with her dumb younger bother Alain, hoping that he will accompany her back to her home town in the North.  Alain has no intention of leaving Toulon and runs away to seek the protection of his closest friend, Saïd, a French Algerian.  In her attempt to find Alain, Jeanne meets Stéphane, the son of a bisexual, alcoholic conductor, Klotz.  Stéphane has recently come out of a coma and lives under the tyranny of his over-possessive mother Myrian whilst his father pursues a destructive liaison with Saïd.  As she begins a love affair with Stéphane, Jeanne finds she is also drawn to Saïd, unaware that there is a secret connection between the two young men...