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Suite Française (2014)
Masterpiece with impressionist and bovarist influences
As an historian I watch a lot of historical movies with a critical eye. But in this case I was astonished by the way this movie depicts the beginning of the occupation of Western Europe during WW2. From a slice of life perspective you can see how every part of society is confronted with the new political order. The scenario does not make the obvious mistake of portraying the German soldiers and the collaboration with them as a black and white story. You can see the many shades of gray (forgive me) that that arise from an occupation of a foreign region and how society as a whole as well as all its individuals has to cope with it. For example the Viscount who collaborates with the German authorities and in the act tries to protect his citizens as well as preserving his pre-war privileges. This way of telling the story of a whole society nearly approaches the academic method of Emannuel le Roy Ladurie in his acclaimed 'Montaillou'. Most of this praise must go to the author of the book, Irène Nemirovsky, who provided us with a quasi objective novel with clear inspiration of Gustave Flauberts' masterpiece Madame Bovary in times of conflict.
But apart from the historical accuracy 'Suite française' is a masterpiece both for the eye and the heart. The storyline develops very smoothly with a few moments of high tension which show the harsh reality of war and occupation, with the soothing love story between Lucille Angellier (Michelle Williams) and Bruno von Falk (Matthias Schoenaerts) at the centre. Not the clichéd 'forbidden love' is shown as usual, but a tense and tactile tale with many layers. The other stories are also worth following because they are not pushed to the side but are nicely blended through the connections with the three main characters. The cinematography and the setting are for me personally beyond perfect. They suck you completely in the movie and show you a picturesque French countryside with scenes and colors that remind you of impressionist paintings from Monet or Renoir.
BUT the most important character of the movie is...the music. It's what brings Lucile and Bruno together and is connects the high the culture which the French and the Germans have, that became extremely polarized during the war. The music played by the characters in the movie blends perfectly in with the wonderful soundtrack. Each scene is accompanied by the haunting music and connects the different stage of the story together with a harmonical entity as a result.
For the accurate depiction of wartime, the non-biased characters, the exquisite cinematography and scenery and especially the soundtrack: a well deserved 9.