Rouge baiser (1985)
Directed by Véra Belmont

Film Review

Director Véra Belmont followed her debut feature Prisonniers de Mao (1979) with this tale of adolescent love and angst set against the grim political realities of the Cold War in 1950s France. The rift between the houses of Montague and Capulet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is as nothing compared with that which divided France into pro- and anti-Communists during this decade, as the film pointedly shows. There are some strong performances from the principals - Charlotte Valandrey and Lambert Wilson are convincing as the star-crossed (or rather politically divided) lovers Nadia and Stéphane - and the moody cinematography powerfuly evokes the era in which the film is set. But for all that the film is somewhat lacking in depth and feeling. The conflict in Nadia's mind between her Communist beliefs and her desire for self-expression, which is intensified by her new-found romance, feels somewhat forced, rendered unconvincing by some slightly heavy-handed writing. It's easy to divine what Belmont's intention is - to convince us of the impossibility of reconciling ideology with something as irrational as romantic love, but this somehow gets lost amidst all the historical and political allusions, which tend to smother the narrative rather than merely adding context. A similar criticism can be levelled at Belmont's subsequent period piece Marquise (1997), which shows similar failings, but amplified by a factor of ten.

Film Synopsis

Paris, 1952.  Memories of the last world war are fresh in people's minds and the French military involvement in Indochina is an increasing source of discontent.  This is the Communist's party's finest hour in France, attracting even teenagers to the Stalinist cause.  One such teenager is Nadia, who is an active participant in a Communist cell.  However, her idealist principles are put to the test when she meets and has a love affair with a photographer who works for a glossy magazine…