One of France’s post-New Wave directors, Andre Techine has been considered of France’s premier directors. Notably for working with great French actresses like Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Adjani, Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert, and Jeanne Moreau in such films as “Alice et Martin, “Les Voleurs”, “Ma Saison Preferee”, and “Les Roseaux Sauvages”. In 2003, Emmanuelle Beart joins the list in Techine’s World War II drama “Les Egares (Strayed)” about a widowed schoolteacher and her two children fleeing Paris during the war where she encounters a brash teenager. The four hide in a chateau where they hide from Germany while the woman is falling for the headstrong teen with a shady past. Based on the novel “The Boy with Grey Eyes” by Gilles Perrault that was adapted into a script by Techine and Gilles Tarand, “Les Egares” is a lovely, harrowing war drama from one of France’s two greatest talents.
It’s 1940 France in World War II and its people are in trouble with Germany taking over. For a widowed schoolteacher named Odile, she decides to flee Paris with her thirteen-year old son Phillippe (Gregoire LePrince-Ringuet) and younger daughter Cathy (Clemence Meyer). Amidst the hectic turmoil for France, Odile and her children leave by car in the night away from Paris and France with memories of Odile’s husband looming over her head, since he died early in the war. Later that day on their way out, they come across a large number of French refugees fleeing when a German fighter attacks the large crowd. Odile, Cathy, and Phillippe flee their car and try to evade the German plane, which dropped bombs all over the people. Phillippe tries to run away only to be stopped and saved by a headstrong 17-year old boy named Yvan (Gaspard Ulliel).
Yvan takes Odile and her children into the forest where the increasing number of German forces advancing to France. The four hide where Phillippe wants to give Yvan his father’s watch for thanks and wants him to protect the family. Odile isn’t sure if she wants a brash young man to be protected by but once he finds an empty house, the four move in with Yvan breaking a window to enter. Odile knew she needs to protect her children from the war and decided to hide for a while after learning that the villages are raided. Yvan would help find food while Odile learns he’s illiterate and couldn’t write as well.
Odile tries to hide her feelings for her dead husband from her children while she feels Yvan’s been a nice help despite his brash attitude. Phillippe and Cathy feel he’s become a much-needed older brother but when Yvan finds a gun and grenade, Odile hides it from him. Phillippe wouldn’t tell Yvan where it is while he goes out to steal more things and hunt for food. Odile becomes attracted to Yvan’s resourcefulness as she tries to help him learn how to read and write. Odile tells Yvan about her life but Yvan doesn’t give much information only that he was orphaned which makes Odile wonder about his shady past.
Then days later, two French soldiers named Georges (Jean Fornerod) and Robert (Samuel Labarthe) arrive away from the war for some needed rest. Odile helps them but a paranoid Yvan doesn’t trust them and tries to stop them but ends up hitting Philippe who stops him. Yvan leaves, only to return once the soldiers leave while Odile talks to Georges about the war and how much damage it’s to France and its people, especially since his own life was just simple back in the Riviera. Odile walks out of the house where the soldiers sleep to find Yvan and get very close to him but the next day after the soldiers leave, Yvan’s shady past catches up with him when an officer (Eric Krekenmayer) arrives leaving a dark ending.
While the film’s flaws may lie in a slow pacing along with an ending that some might not like, overall, “Les Egares” remains a stellar film from Andre Techine. With his wide-eyed directing style filled with vast shots and linear camera movements, Techine brings a cinematic style that is more straightforward in comparison to the more harrowing views of previous World War II dramas. The film’s script is also excellent in its fine, slow-building narrative by giving its principal actors a chance to shine and develop while its love subplot doesn’t change anything of the film rather than just building up its momentum. With cinematographer Agnes Godard bringing a lovely, bright yellow-orange look in the field scenes along with darker, blue in a few night scenes mostly dominated by black with its look complementing Techine’s vast vision. With Ze Branco on set design giving the film an authentic, realistic look into 1940s France, Philippe Sarde bringing a romantic, French-driven score dominated by an accordion to give the film a subtle tone.
While the smaller performances of Jean Fornerod, Samuel Labarthe, and Eric Krekenmayer are well used in their brief time, the film really belongs to its four main principle actors. Clemence Meyer is wonderful as the little Cathy with her innocent playfulness and naiveté as she develops into a young girl who is seeking not just giving comfort to her mother but also have someone to look up to in Yvan in a fine performance from a young child. Gregoire LePrince-Ringuet is excellent as the thirteen-year-old Philippe with his desire to be the man of the house and take care of his mother when he’s forgetting his place when Yvan is around. LePrince-Ringuet brings an intelligence and morality to Yvan while being a realist to his mother with concerns of the war. Gaspard Ulliel is amazing in his brash, no-holds-barred performance as Yvan with his intense, charming performance that is filled with angst. In his scenes with Emmanuelle Beart, he brings a passionate, thrilling performance that will make many swoons, as he is to emerge as one of France’s new young stars.
Emmanuelle Beart is the film’s most spellbinding performance in a role that is intense and complex in its emotional battery and motherly love. Not only does Beart brings in her classy sexiness to the film but brings in a more restrained, laid-back tone when she’s just playing mom to her younger actors while with Ulliel, brings in that age-sexual tension that is fiery when you want them to be together. Beart, known to Americans for her role as Tom Cruise’s ingénue in “Mission: Impossible” can pretty much dismiss that film since her work in France shows her true acting abilities where she remains an impressive and hard-working actress who remains fearless in any role she chooses.
While “Les Egares” may not be a great film from Andre Techine, it is still a fine, powerful drama with a great cast led by the enigmatic Emmanuelle Beart. While it doesn’t add anything new about World War II but with some insights in what the French had to go through, it’s still a well-written and directed drama with World War II in the background. Fans of Beart and Techine’s work will find this as an excellent film they can enjoy while for filmgoers that wanted films with sex appeal would find a lot of passion and eroticism that is subtle and enchanting without being too racy. In the end, “Les Egares” is an excellent film from master director Andre Techine and the radiant Emmanuelle Beart.
A Widowed Schoolteacher Flees Nazi-occupied Paris With Her, Children. A Teenaged Boy Comes To Their Rescue By Leading Them, Into The Forest -- Their B...More at HotMovieSale.com
Set in 1940 at the beginning of the German occupation of France, a young widow (Emmanuelle Beart) flees war-torn Paris with her two children and must ...More at Buy.com
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