| LUCIE AUBRAC Director: Claude Berri "I didn't want to make the um-teenth film about the Resistance. What interested me was how exemplary this was as a love story. The audacity and courage of this woman, who acts to save the man she loves. What probably made me want to do this movie was the oath (Lucie and Raymond) took to one another -- to always be together on May 14th until the end of their lives." Claude Berri If you like watching huge explosive train wrecks and daring escape attempts from evil Nazis, Lucie Aubrac isn’t for you. Okay, it does include these scenes but only at the very beginning and the very end. In between this action the film is a rather low simmering character driven love story. Potentially the film has enough for everybody; the action fans can watch the opening scene and leave for a while and the foreign film audience can arrive a bit late and enjoy the subtle performances. The film is based on the true-life story of Lucie Aubrac and her husband Raymond who were part of the French Resistance against the Nazi occupation of France in World War II. In the movie they and their close connections and cohorts spend their time arranging daring and deliberate plans to free prisoners or lay traps for German soldiers. The film’s central plot is about Lucie Aubrac and her comrades attempting to free her husband from prison to prevent his ultimate execution. When Raymond is imprisoned Lucie plays her cards well -mainly with deceitful charm - and gets him released. But the second time he is captured and imprisoned it is much more difficult for her to free him. Carole Bouquet is an actress who like many French heroines, has both brains and beauty and she plays Lucie with a steel stare resolve. Her character is well rounded enough to make her both intimidating (even to Nazis) in some scenes and vulnerable when ill-fated circumstances are stacked against her. Raymond is played by Daniel Auteuil whose sharp focusing eyes and serious look make him one of France's most intense actors. Together on screen they play a believable couple playing off of one other with a good amount of erotic heat making their sacrificing motives to be with one another all the more convincing. Director Claude Berri (who a decade ago made the two highly touted films Jean de Florette and Manon of The Spring) is one of the few directors who is influenced by Hollywood style filmmaking or more specifically old Hollywood studio style filmmaking. Which isn’t a bad thing considering the quality of his production is top notch with great looking visual designs, a solid (albeit formulaic) script, and excellent acting from the lead actors to the supporting roles. The historical significance of the French Resistance won’t soon be forgotten and Lucie Aubrac attempts to pay honor to not only the period but to a woman who refused to give up in the face of adversity. It’s a good film even though the good guys, bad guys, the honest men and the double-crossers are all predictably in place within the story and no matter how tragic the world is around them it's only a matter of time before everything works its way out to an appropriately satisfying ending. - Matt Langdon |