Looking for details on Jean-Paul Rappeneau's unexpectedly sweet 1966 Occupation Comedy A Matter of Resistance,I stumbled on a title by auteur film maker Claude Chabrol from the same year about the Occupation. Since the stylish bourgeoisie murder-mystery A Double Tour gave me a chance to see a Chabrol movie for the first time a few weeks ago,I decided that it was the perfect time to cross the line of Demarcation.
View on the film:
Claiming to have spent the entire shoot drunk,writer/director Claude Chabrol (who was advised to take the project by Anthony Mann) displays a magnificent confidence in the story,with Chabrol and cinematographer Jean Rabier boiling down the French New Wave flashes,for a tense,brooding Film Noir atmosphere.
Following a frosty river over the Demarcation line,Chabrol and Rabier pull open the lines of collaboration that the towns people fear,as elegantly held extreme close-ups get up close to the suspicions and paranoia gripping the town.Keeping Pierre Jansen's minimalist score lingering in the background,Chabrol displays a sharp eye for "space",with stilted shots showing the town in its starkest form,surrounded by icy Film Noir shadows and a crushing mood of defeat.
Inspired by French Resistance secret agent Gilbert Renault book,the screenplay by Chabrol places the horrors from WWI against the backdrop of the unfolding WWII,with Pierre wounded memories of WWI leading to a grudging tolerance of Nazi rule.
Cutting down the belief at the time that (almost) all the people in Occupied France were Resistance figures,Chabrol strikes a Film Noir vein,by making Mary and Jacques Lafaye's acts of rebellion be exceptions to the complicit nature and acceptance of collaboration occupying the town.
Soon to become a collaborator with Chabrol,the graceful Jean Seberg gives a fiery performance as Mary,whose rebellious streak Seberg lights up,as Mary finds herself alone against the Nazis and the memories of WWI holding Pierre back from fighting in the new war.Joined by a wonderfully considerate Daniel Gélin as Doctor Jacques Lafaye, Maurice Ronet gives an excellent performance as Pierre,thanks to Ronet brilliantly chipping away at Pierre's burnt state,via Pierre being a witness to Mary's brave acts of rebellion,which leads to Pierre deciding that it is time to cross the complacent line of Demarcation.
View on the film:
Claiming to have spent the entire shoot drunk,writer/director Claude Chabrol (who was advised to take the project by Anthony Mann) displays a magnificent confidence in the story,with Chabrol and cinematographer Jean Rabier boiling down the French New Wave flashes,for a tense,brooding Film Noir atmosphere.
Following a frosty river over the Demarcation line,Chabrol and Rabier pull open the lines of collaboration that the towns people fear,as elegantly held extreme close-ups get up close to the suspicions and paranoia gripping the town.Keeping Pierre Jansen's minimalist score lingering in the background,Chabrol displays a sharp eye for "space",with stilted shots showing the town in its starkest form,surrounded by icy Film Noir shadows and a crushing mood of defeat.
Inspired by French Resistance secret agent Gilbert Renault book,the screenplay by Chabrol places the horrors from WWI against the backdrop of the unfolding WWII,with Pierre wounded memories of WWI leading to a grudging tolerance of Nazi rule.
Cutting down the belief at the time that (almost) all the people in Occupied France were Resistance figures,Chabrol strikes a Film Noir vein,by making Mary and Jacques Lafaye's acts of rebellion be exceptions to the complicit nature and acceptance of collaboration occupying the town.
Soon to become a collaborator with Chabrol,the graceful Jean Seberg gives a fiery performance as Mary,whose rebellious streak Seberg lights up,as Mary finds herself alone against the Nazis and the memories of WWI holding Pierre back from fighting in the new war.Joined by a wonderfully considerate Daniel Gélin as Doctor Jacques Lafaye, Maurice Ronet gives an excellent performance as Pierre,thanks to Ronet brilliantly chipping away at Pierre's burnt state,via Pierre being a witness to Mary's brave acts of rebellion,which leads to Pierre deciding that it is time to cross the complacent line of Demarcation.