World War II has to be one of the most cinematically well-chronicled periods of history there is, dwelt on by big-name directors such as Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood as well as smaller scale film-makers alike. We have had action movies, romances and opinion-pieces set during the Second World War, from the perspectives of nigh on everyone involved. It is therefore to be commended that director Nicolas Steil has found a fresh angle from which to broach this endlessly fascinating and shocking moment in history. Setting the film in his native Luxembourg, Steil dramatises the country’s Nazi occupation and its effect on Luxembourg’s denizens.
Opting for a less bombastic approach than, say, Saving Private Ryan, Steil instead directs a relatively slow paced narrative in which we watch our pacifist protagonist’s struggle for survival. The son of a disgraced and deceased collaborator, François (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet) leaves university for...
Opting for a less bombastic approach than, say, Saving Private Ryan, Steil instead directs a relatively slow paced narrative in which we watch our pacifist protagonist’s struggle for survival. The son of a disgraced and deceased collaborator, François (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet) leaves university for...
- 1/23/2011
- by Steven Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
“Welcome to the empire of the buried-alive!” As young François (Grégoire Leprince Ringuet) goes into hiding during the Nazi occupation of Luxembourg, he leaves behind a world of fear and mistrust and enters something even worse. The French title of director Nicolas Steil’s debut The Undercover War (2009) is Réfractaire, which is perhaps a more accurate reflection of the fact that his film is all about resistance – both active and passive.
After panning over the exterior of the mine where much of the film is set, the camera closes in on the beaten and bloodied face of the prostrate François. The flashback that tells his story begins with his own description of the grim prospects for young Luxembourgian men in 1944, after their country was occupied by the Nazis. They could either endure forced conscription and become cannon fodder on the Russian Front, or go into hiding and wait for liberation – or death.
After panning over the exterior of the mine where much of the film is set, the camera closes in on the beaten and bloodied face of the prostrate François. The flashback that tells his story begins with his own description of the grim prospects for young Luxembourgian men in 1944, after their country was occupied by the Nazis. They could either endure forced conscription and become cannon fodder on the Russian Front, or go into hiding and wait for liberation – or death.
- 1/12/2011
- by Cine-Vue
- CineVue
The October 1st deadline for all countries wanting into the Academy Award's foreign-language film category has come and gone. According to IndieWIRE [1], The United Kingdom, which has predominantly submitted Welsh films over the years (if submitting at all), has surprisingly chosen the documentary Afghan Star as its 2009 submission for the Academy Awards. The last time the country received a nomination in this category was in 1999, when Paul Morrison's Welsh and Yiddish Solomon and Gaenor lost out to Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother. Synopsis After 30 years of war and Taliban rule, pop Idol has come to Afghanistan. Millions are watching the TV series 'Afghan Star' and voting for their favorite singers by mobile phone. For many this is their first encounter with democracy. This timely film follows the dramatic stories of four contestants as they risk all to become the nation's favorite singer. But will they...
- 10/8/2009
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
In the years I've been documenting Oscar's once largely undocumented foreign film category, we've seen the number of players creep up virtually every year, despite the concurrent dwindling of foreign film distribution in the United States. In 2001 for example when I first began tracking it and sharing the info online, there were 51 official submissions for Best Foreign Language Film. Last year there were 67. For the 2009 Oscar race (the submission deadline has now passed) we've now heard from 62 countries. But that doesn't mean the official list will only be 62 films. In the eight years I've been documenting this race, something always changes between the submission deadline and Oscar's official announcement of the list (coming soon): Films are disqualified, last minute switcheroos happen, countries that didn't make noise when they first submitted are revealed. There will be drama... albeit the mostly invisible kind.
You can see more about these 62 entries (cast,...
You can see more about these 62 entries (cast,...
- 10/4/2009
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
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