La France
Directed by Serge Bozon
Winner of the Prix Jean Vigo
for the best French debut film, Serge Bozon's LA FRANCE is
"a WWI movie like none other" (NY Times). An
intoxicating blend of wartime romance and brightly colored musical, the
film depicts an original world "where Bresson meets the
Beatles" (Variety).
French farm girl
Camille (Sylvie Testud) is awaiting news of her husband (the late
Guillaume Depardieu), who is fighting at the front. After she receives
an enigmatic letter ending their relationship, she dresses up as a boy
and joins a wandering regiment in search of her estranged love.
Skirting the edges of battlefields, the platoon haunts the screen like
shell-shocked specters, awakening for four uncannily beautiful musical
numbers played on homemade string instruments. The tunes are
disarmingly catchy 60s pop, an attempt to imagine utopia in the midst
of hell.
A striking vision
that reaches for the sublime amidst the dehumanizing horror of war, La
France is a highly acclaimed work of art. With exquisite cinematography
from Celine Bozon (Serge's sister) and a
tour-de-force performance from Sylvie Testud, it is a film
"not to be missed" (Village Voice).
Reviews
"...one of the strangest and most original war movies I've seen."
- Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
"...war film and musical, elegiac and
avant-garde, cerebral and poignant...
This is something new."
Nathan Lee, THE VILLAGE VOICE
Awards
Gold Hugo Chicago International Film Festival
Official Selection San Francisco International Film Festival