I take issue with some of the negative reviews regarding the storyline. It works. The superb acting of Noiret is better than usual and he's great when he's merely being ordinary. This is a powerful film about the nihilism following the end of la grande guerre. The character of Noiret, a man torn by complex emotional conditions identifying the unidentified, finds himself torn between his own moral code, his emerging love for a widow looking for her dead husband, his repulsion at the profiteering capitalism of industrialists and his secret knowledge of the dead man's bigamy. The intensity of Gallic emotions are often misunderstood by us Americans (too much English influence for my tastes, je suppose) but this is an excellent film with all the necessary elements for a classic. See it. Decide for yourself!
Review of Life and Nothing But
