France, La (2007)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Serge Bozon

Writers:

Serge Bozon (writer)
Axelle Ropert (writer)

Release Date:

11 July 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

As the First World War echoes in the background, Camille lives peacefully in the North-East of France...

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Sylvie Testud	...	Camille
Pascal Greggory	...	Le Lieutenant
Guillaume Verdier	...	Le cadet
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bob Boisadan	...	Le guitariste
Jean-Christophe Bouvet	...	Elias
Didier Brice	...	Jean
Philippe Chemin	...	L'agent de liaison
Guillaume Depardieu	...	François
Benjamin Esdraffo	...	Pierre
Michel Fossiez	...	Le hautboïste
Laurent Lacotte	...	Frédéric
Pierre Léon	...	Alfred
Emmanuel Levaufre	...	Elias's son
François Négret	...	Jacques
Cécile Reigher	...	Camille's sister
Laurent Talon	...	Antoine
Lionel Turchi	...	Le violoniste
Laurent Valéro	...	Le bandonéoniste
Mehdi Zannad	...	La sentinelle

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Company:

Les Films Pelléas

Trivia:

Bozon stated in a Cinema Scope interview that the film was shot using "a film stock never used before to shoot a movie, Kodak 5299, which is usually used as an intermediate film in numerical post-production." This was used to achieve the so-called "aquarium feeling" of the film's night scenes.

A musical about a company of soldiers during WW I

I would not have watched this film had I known it was a musical. Not my genre. There are only four songs and they are mercifully not too long. They were recorded live while shooting and the compositions have an odd unpolished quality.

It's 1917 in northern France. A company of eleven French soldiers, including a lieutenant, are moving through the countryside. A woman impersonating a man succeeds in joining the company. While the mission of the company is not immediately revealed, the woman is on a quest to find her husband, also a soldier at the front, whose whereabouts are unknown. The film is taken up by the journey of those twelve characters.

The war is near but battles don't make it to the screen. You may see some smoke, hear the sound of cannons and explosions, and see a few dead bodies. The war is context but it's depiction is not central. The stress is on the men of the company and the interloper they have adopted.

The musical numbers are surreal interludes. Out of the blue makeshift instruments appear, mostly string, a piano once and a clarinet. Obviously the soldiers are not carrying them around. It's fanciful and it rubbed me in the wrong way.