Uranus (1990)
Country: FR
Technical: col 100m
Director: Claude Berri
Cast: Michel Blanc, Gérard Depardieu, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Philippe Noiret, Fabrice Luchini, Michel Galabru, Daniel Prévost
Synopsis:
Around the time of the repatriation of French troops after the Second World War, a small town is riven with suspicions and disagreements between communist zealots, former collaborators, humanist sympathisers and the gendarmerie, itself manipulated by the local plutocrat.
Review:
Based on a successful novel and riding high on the success of the Pagnol films, this somewhat theatrical bit of French heritage cinema takes the fall-out from the Occupation as the rather unusual premise of its action. It unites a who's who of contemporary acting talent, all overshadowed by an almost self-parodic performance from Depardieu as Léopold, the would-be poetic bartender and knower of all the community's secrets. His histrionic outbursts, whether railing against town hypocrisy at night in the square while blowing on a hunting horn, or spouting bathetic self-composed Alexandrines in his café, are both the highlight and destabilising death knell of the entire piece, distracting from the central story surrounding Marielle and his family. Still more bizarre and unexplained is his death at the hands of the police and before witnesses. A minor piece, then, and not particularly successful on its international release, though not without interest for lovers of this unique sub-genre of French historical cinema.
Country: FR
Technical: col 100m
Director: Claude Berri
Cast: Michel Blanc, Gérard Depardieu, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Philippe Noiret, Fabrice Luchini, Michel Galabru, Daniel Prévost
Synopsis:
Around the time of the repatriation of French troops after the Second World War, a small town is riven with suspicions and disagreements between communist zealots, former collaborators, humanist sympathisers and the gendarmerie, itself manipulated by the local plutocrat.
Review:
Based on a successful novel and riding high on the success of the Pagnol films, this somewhat theatrical bit of French heritage cinema takes the fall-out from the Occupation as the rather unusual premise of its action. It unites a who's who of contemporary acting talent, all overshadowed by an almost self-parodic performance from Depardieu as Léopold, the would-be poetic bartender and knower of all the community's secrets. His histrionic outbursts, whether railing against town hypocrisy at night in the square while blowing on a hunting horn, or spouting bathetic self-composed Alexandrines in his café, are both the highlight and destabilising death knell of the entire piece, distracting from the central story surrounding Marielle and his family. Still more bizarre and unexplained is his death at the hands of the police and before witnesses. A minor piece, then, and not particularly successful on its international release, though not without interest for lovers of this unique sub-genre of French historical cinema.
Country: FR
Technical: col 100m
Director: Claude Berri
Cast: Michel Blanc, Gérard Depardieu, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Philippe Noiret, Fabrice Luchini, Michel Galabru, Daniel Prévost
Synopsis:
Around the time of the repatriation of French troops after the Second World War, a small town is riven with suspicions and disagreements between communist zealots, former collaborators, humanist sympathisers and the gendarmerie, itself manipulated by the local plutocrat.
Review:
Based on a successful novel and riding high on the success of the Pagnol films, this somewhat theatrical bit of French heritage cinema takes the fall-out from the Occupation as the rather unusual premise of its action. It unites a who's who of contemporary acting talent, all overshadowed by an almost self-parodic performance from Depardieu as Léopold, the would-be poetic bartender and knower of all the community's secrets. His histrionic outbursts, whether railing against town hypocrisy at night in the square while blowing on a hunting horn, or spouting bathetic self-composed Alexandrines in his café, are both the highlight and destabilising death knell of the entire piece, distracting from the central story surrounding Marielle and his family. Still more bizarre and unexplained is his death at the hands of the police and before witnesses. A minor piece, then, and not particularly successful on its international release, though not without interest for lovers of this unique sub-genre of French historical cinema.