Review of Suite Française (2015) by Leon B — 28 Aug 2015

Review:

I quite enjoyed this movie because it shows a completely different side of war during the 1940's, when Hitler's army were taking control and living in various people's houses in France. The story is based around one of the German Lieutenants who takes shelter in a woman house, who lives with her daughter-in-law. He is a talented pianist who is very different from the other soldiers because he has a caring and warm heart which is noticed by the young girl, Lucile, who is waiting for her husband to return from war. The whole village are under severe pressure because the Germans are taking over there houses and causes disruption in there life's, so there love has to be kept secret from everyone, especially her stern mother-in-law. On top of that, a radical villager kills one of the German officers so he has to go on the run, leaving his wife and kid behind. The wife seeks help from Lucile to protect her hunted husband while the German officer, whose living in her house, is head of the operation to find the killer. With all this going on, there love isn't questionable but there unable to pursue matters because of the political conflict. I liked the different elements in the storyline, especially the intense love undertone and it was good to finally see a German officer with a heart. The actors played there characters well but I would have liked to have seen more of Kirstin Scott Thomas who played the scary Madam Angellier. I'm glad that the director didn't go to far with the love story because it would have made the film seem unbelievable, especially for that intense period. You could easily feel the tension in the air between the two main characters but they had to stay in the correct mode so they didn't blow there cover. Anyway, this is a watchable period drama which is pretty intense from the beginning to the end but you do have to be in the right frame of mind to watch it. Watchable!

Round-Up:

I'm not a big fan of Michelle Williams, 34, because I do find her films pretty boring and her range is very small but she did put in a good performance in Shutter Island and Brokeback Mountain. She was very average in this movie but she did bring intensity to her character and the many situations when her life was on the line. Matthias Schoenaerts, 37, played his part well as the caring officer who lived in her house and I recently saw him in a Little Chaos were he also put in another good performance. He's starred in movies like the Drop and Blood Ties so he's gradually moving towards English movies from his native Belgium projects. The film was directed by Saul Dibb who made the Duchess and wrote and directed the great Bullet Boy but he's fairly new to the big motion picture game so I have to commend him for his achievement with this movie, even though it made a lose at the box office. The period drama genre is quite a tough nut to crack because there is a lot of people that find that genre quite boring and uninteresting. I usually stay away from these type of movies because I tend to fall asleep through them but I thought that I would give this movie a chance because of the touching subject matter. I haven't completely converted into a period drama fan, just yet but I will open my mind a bit more because I have been impressed with the cinematography and the hard work that goes into portraying the older periods. .

Budget: $20million.

Worldwide Gross: $9million.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their war/romance/drama movies about a German soldier who falls in love with a young girl whilst living in her house with her mother-in-law. 4/10.