The first sixty minutes or so of this long film are harrowing, but only up to a point. Two points in fact. At these points, the film depicts and betrays at the same time. In the first, a concentration camp train leaves, and the horror is depicted in full. In the second, a group of young resistance men and women are massacred thanks to a collaborator. All very truthful, but both collaboration and concentration camp are narrowed to a very safe viewpoint. There is no mention or even suggestion in the film of the mass deportations of Jews nor any examples of the collaboration which was rife in every sector of French society. But then this was basically a Gaullist film made under a Gaullist regime (I was living in Paris at the time it was shot) and the lily-white purity of the French was, for the majority of the French, sacrosanct. Even recent truths about the Algerian War were heavily white-washed, and why, while on that subject, did I only count three black faces? These are all major flaws in what is essentially a middle-brow film.
As for the acting three stand out: Leslie Caron was extraordinary. Forget 'Gigi' and her other films. Within the space of a few minutes she stole the film with a great performance and I will give no spoilers as to when. Orson Welles was second for me in a role where I forgot he was Orson Welles; like looking at Mount Everest and forgetting it is a mountain. And third Pierre Vaneck, probably unknown to most outside France, but one of the greatest stage actors who ever lived. He was subtle and exact. For these three I give the film a six. This may seem unkind, but the others (like Belmondo and Delon) were there, but vacant, and the perfunctory roles for Signoret and Montand were so fleeting if you lowered your head for a moment you would miss them. As for Rene Clement's direction, it was at times inspired, but mostly pedestrian.
I saw this film for the first time in April 2019, and the sight of Notre Dame throughout the film and especially at the end was heart breaking. As is what I call the fall of our Western culture at present. Just as the heart of the Cathedral has been burnt out, so the heart of Europe is falling into the hands of the wilful, the wicked and the politically blind. Like this film we are not facing up to truths which must have been in the minds and hearts of many of the more worthy actors who took part in it.
A final few words. Where were the actors who really counted in 1965? Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Anna Karina, Michel Piccoli, Maurice Ronet, Delphine Seyrig or Emmanuelle Riva? Were they asked? If they were, I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall. Except for Belmondo, who worked sometimes for such greats as Godard, there were none of the real representatives of the time. Delon of course worked for Jean-Pierre Melville, but most of the actors were from former times. Maybe this is why I did not go to see the film at the time.
As for the acting three stand out: Leslie Caron was extraordinary. Forget 'Gigi' and her other films. Within the space of a few minutes she stole the film with a great performance and I will give no spoilers as to when. Orson Welles was second for me in a role where I forgot he was Orson Welles; like looking at Mount Everest and forgetting it is a mountain. And third Pierre Vaneck, probably unknown to most outside France, but one of the greatest stage actors who ever lived. He was subtle and exact. For these three I give the film a six. This may seem unkind, but the others (like Belmondo and Delon) were there, but vacant, and the perfunctory roles for Signoret and Montand were so fleeting if you lowered your head for a moment you would miss them. As for Rene Clement's direction, it was at times inspired, but mostly pedestrian.
I saw this film for the first time in April 2019, and the sight of Notre Dame throughout the film and especially at the end was heart breaking. As is what I call the fall of our Western culture at present. Just as the heart of the Cathedral has been burnt out, so the heart of Europe is falling into the hands of the wilful, the wicked and the politically blind. Like this film we are not facing up to truths which must have been in the minds and hearts of many of the more worthy actors who took part in it.
A final few words. Where were the actors who really counted in 1965? Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Anna Karina, Michel Piccoli, Maurice Ronet, Delphine Seyrig or Emmanuelle Riva? Were they asked? If they were, I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall. Except for Belmondo, who worked sometimes for such greats as Godard, there were none of the real representatives of the time. Delon of course worked for Jean-Pierre Melville, but most of the actors were from former times. Maybe this is why I did not go to see the film at the time.