Film Review
Adapted from a popular novel by actor-screenwriter René Havard,
Un taxi pour Tobrouk is a classic
French war film that exposes the brutality and absurdity of war without
recourse to sentimentality or laboured anti-war polemic. The
story it tells is based on the experiences of FFL (Free French Force)
parachute troops during the Second World War, who assisted the British
Special Air Service in sabotage missions against Rommel's forces in
Libya and Tunisia in 1942-3. Whilst the film offers a few
visually spectacular action sequences (of the kind you would expect to
see in a quality war film), for the most part it focuses on the
relationship between the five main characters - four disparate
Frenchmen and a German officer - who, through their shared experiences,
form a close bond of friendship and mutual respect. The anti-war
subtext is subtly delivered but highly effective.
Although understated and slowly paced,
Un taxi pour Tobrouk is a film of
exceptional power and humanity, which owes as much to René Havard and Michel Audiard's
incisive screenplay as it does to the arresting contributions
from the five lead actors. Charles Aznavour tops his impressive
dramatic debut in Georges Franju's
La Tête contre les murs (1959)
with an instantly engaging performance that is perfectly complemented
by that of French cinema's unrivalled hard man Lino Ventura.
Sequences of harrowing suspense and dramatic intensity are relieved
with quieter moments of humour and introspection, giving the spectator
a keen insight into the psychology of the five protagonists and their anxieties as they
face up to the gruesome reality of warfare. The abruptness of the
film's ending never fails to shock, but it serves as a potent reminder
of the true character of war - an insane lottery of carnage and
destruction that is a grotesque affront to humanity.
© James Travers 2007
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Next Denys de La Patellière film:
Le Bateau d'Émile (1962)
Film Synopsis
Libya, 1942. Four soldiers in the Free French Forces are crossing
the desert when their jeep breaks down. They have no other option
but to continue their journey to Tobruk on foot. On the way, they
encounter a party of German soldiers - one of whom they take captive,
the others they shoot down. Taking possession of the Germans'
jeep, the four French soldiers resume their desert crossing with their
reluctant prisoner. What ensues is an odyssey that is both
hazardous and revealing, but it is doubtful that any of the five men
will live to tell the tale...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.