I'm glad I saw this long and slow but pretty story of a matriarch who hires a young woman to help her and her grown daughter work their farm in France during World War I. I'm also glad I was alone because I didn't have anyone to complain to me that I picked it.
Nathalie Baye (she has just over 100 credits and her name rings a bell but the only ones that I can recall are the two Truffaut filmes Day for Night (1973) and The Man Who Loved Women (1977) as well as Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can (2002)) plays the 60-something Hortense who is tense for many good reasons. One thing I never figured out, though, is whether the disabled man her age at the farm (wheat, cows, hogs) is her husband or not. Baye's real-life daughter Laura Smet (about two dozen credits, none that I've seen) plays Hortense's daughter Solange, and Iris Bry, in her debut, is the farm hand Francine with the strong back, sweet disposition, and voice of an angel.
Director/co-writer Xavier Beauvois (last blogged for Of Gods and Men) adapted the 1924 novel by Ernest Pérochon with co-writers Marie-Julie Maille (many editing credits, including this one, and one other co-writing gig) and Frédérique Moreau (new to me). It seems to me that when your editor has had a hand in the script, overly long sequences, in this case swelling the run time to 2:15, are predictable. There's plenty of plot, revealed after a while--you just have to wait--not least of which are the agony of war and the advent of farm machines.
One sad bit of trivia is that on December 5, 2017, this movie was released, and on that same day Johnny Hallyday died. He was a French actor/pop star ("the French Elvis"), ex-husband of Baye, and father of Smet. A happier bit of trivia is that the adorable blonde child who appears late in the movie has the last name of Beauvois. I'm guessing she's the director's granddaughter.
The beautiful cinematography is by Caroline Champetier (she shot Of Gods and Men and then Holy Motors though I didn't mention the latter).
Jazz pianist and composer Michel Legrand (Oscar winner for scoring The Summer of '42 (1971) and Yentl (1983) as well as the song Windmills of Your Mind from The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), nominated for others, and scored hundreds more, including The Go-Between (1971), Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Ode to Billy Joe (1976), Best Friends (1982), and Ready to Wear (1994), just to mention some I've seen) gives us lovely themes which I cannot find online for you. This track may or may not be from the movie but it is nice. Here's another movie theme by Legrand and a medley of some of his best known work.
92% of Rotten Tomatoes' critics have certified this "fresh," while only 50% of its audiences have done so, certifying it "rotten." I would have liked it better without the long, long actionless shots, but still didn't hate it. On my netflix page, I have the option to save it, so someone is planning to release it someday on DVD.
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