French director Henri's World War II drama "Weekend at Dunkirk," with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Catherine Spaak, and Ronald Howard, is a tragic reenactment of the evacuation of British and French troops from the seaside city as the German Army descends in force on the Allies. Naturally, Belmondo is cast as lowly French soldier who follows his buddies to the beaches to get transported to England. During the timespan of a weekend, our young, adventurous hero encounters nothing but trouble. You know this isn't going to be a frivolous French war comedy when we meet Julien Maillat (Jean-Claude Belmondo of "The Burglars") as he heads off to Dunkirk. The first person he runs into has a cart that he uses to collect the bodies of dead civilians. Maillat's friend is trundling the beautiful but unblemished body of a French woman to the civilian authorities in charge of disposing of casualties. Mind you, this opening foreshadows a series of grim events that culminate in our hero dying on the beach. The girl is perfectly preserved in a dress without a scratch on her, but she is in fact dead. Julien's comrades have taken up residence on the beaches of Bray-Dunes near Dunkirk, the actual location of one of the operation Dynamo evacuations.
During his time in the area, Julien meets a pretty young thing, Jeanne (Catherine Spaak of "The Cat o' Nine Tails"), who lives in a house near the beach. When bombs were falling earlier in the film, Julien saw this babe standing on her balcony with a pair of binoculars watching Luftwaffe aircraft bomb the town and the beach. Eventually, Julien meets her and they are attracted to each other, but any further plans are delayed because our protagonist is befriended by a sympathetic British officer, Robinson (Ronald Howard of "Gideon of Scotland Yard"), who arranges for Julien to be taken off to London along with British troops. At the same time, Julien stumbles onto a British soldier and his French wife who are looking to be evacuated, too. Repeatedly, the soldier's gruff superiors inform him in no uncertain words that they cannot include him in their ranks. Later, Julien discovers they are on the same transport that Robinson got him cleared to take. Bad luck strikes again when a German aircraft bombs the ship, and the French wife dies in an explosion on board. Poor Julien abandons the sinking ship with the other survivors and finds himself back where he started from in Dunkirk.
The relationship between Julien and Jeanne takes on a different tone when our hero decides to visit her. After all, she had promised him a home cooked dinner if he will come back. Unfortunately, events have taken a turn for the worst, and Julien walks in on to fellow French soldiers who are trying rape Jeanne. When Julien tries to intervene, the two French soldiers overpower him, shatter a vase on his head, and send him bouncing down the staircase. Satisfied that he won't interfere, the two lusty Frenchmen hold down the screaming damsel-in-distress and resume trying to rape her. Earlier, Julien had asked them to leave, but they ignored him. Now, when he enters the room where these two dastards are poised to rape her, he pulls out an automatic pistol and kills both of them. No sooner has Julien dispatched these two French soldiers than Jeanne comes on to him like a prostitute, but he rejects her. Throughout all this melodrama, Luftwaffe fighter planes attack the beaches and strafe them with hot lead. Meantime, Jeanne has sworn never to leave her residence.
Nothing about "Weekend at Dunkirk" is remotely rabble rising. The production values are impressive with this wartime disaster. Soldiers in French and British uniforms flood the beachside resort. In a sense, Verneuil made "Weekend at Dunkirk" to show the evacuation from the French perspective. Producer Robert Hakim shelled out a lot of money to recreate Dunkirk and it is all visible, especially with the parades and personnel.
During his time in the area, Julien meets a pretty young thing, Jeanne (Catherine Spaak of "The Cat o' Nine Tails"), who lives in a house near the beach. When bombs were falling earlier in the film, Julien saw this babe standing on her balcony with a pair of binoculars watching Luftwaffe aircraft bomb the town and the beach. Eventually, Julien meets her and they are attracted to each other, but any further plans are delayed because our protagonist is befriended by a sympathetic British officer, Robinson (Ronald Howard of "Gideon of Scotland Yard"), who arranges for Julien to be taken off to London along with British troops. At the same time, Julien stumbles onto a British soldier and his French wife who are looking to be evacuated, too. Repeatedly, the soldier's gruff superiors inform him in no uncertain words that they cannot include him in their ranks. Later, Julien discovers they are on the same transport that Robinson got him cleared to take. Bad luck strikes again when a German aircraft bombs the ship, and the French wife dies in an explosion on board. Poor Julien abandons the sinking ship with the other survivors and finds himself back where he started from in Dunkirk.
The relationship between Julien and Jeanne takes on a different tone when our hero decides to visit her. After all, she had promised him a home cooked dinner if he will come back. Unfortunately, events have taken a turn for the worst, and Julien walks in on to fellow French soldiers who are trying rape Jeanne. When Julien tries to intervene, the two French soldiers overpower him, shatter a vase on his head, and send him bouncing down the staircase. Satisfied that he won't interfere, the two lusty Frenchmen hold down the screaming damsel-in-distress and resume trying to rape her. Earlier, Julien had asked them to leave, but they ignored him. Now, when he enters the room where these two dastards are poised to rape her, he pulls out an automatic pistol and kills both of them. No sooner has Julien dispatched these two French soldiers than Jeanne comes on to him like a prostitute, but he rejects her. Throughout all this melodrama, Luftwaffe fighter planes attack the beaches and strafe them with hot lead. Meantime, Jeanne has sworn never to leave her residence.
Nothing about "Weekend at Dunkirk" is remotely rabble rising. The production values are impressive with this wartime disaster. Soldiers in French and British uniforms flood the beachside resort. In a sense, Verneuil made "Weekend at Dunkirk" to show the evacuation from the French perspective. Producer Robert Hakim shelled out a lot of money to recreate Dunkirk and it is all visible, especially with the parades and personnel.