1918年、休戦目前の西部戦線。生き埋めにされたアルベールを救ったエドゥアールは、その時に顔に重傷を負ってしまう。パリに戻った二人を待っていたのは、戦没者は称えるのに帰還兵には冷たい世間だった。仕事も恋人も失ったアルベールと、生還を家族にひた隠しにするエドゥアール。そこに、声を失ったエドゥアールの想いを“通訳”する少女が加わった。一度は負けた人生を巻き返すために、彼らは国を相手にひと儲けする大胆な詐欺を企てる。だが、そこには隠された本当の目的があった──。
製作費: $23,000,000 (35億円)
興行収入: $15,100,000 (23億円)
推定収支: $-7,900,000 (-12億円)
※製作費・興行収入はTMDBのデータを参照しています。収支は(興行収入 - 製作費)で算出したFindKey独自の推定値であり、広告宣伝費や諸経費は含まれません (1ドル=150円換算)。
監督: Albert Dupontel
脚本: Albert Dupontel / Pierre Lemaitre
撮影監督: Vincent Mathias
制作会社: Gaumont / Stadenn Prod / Manchester Films / France 2 Cinéma / Canal+ / Ciné+ / France Télévisions / Entourage Pictures
An extremely stylish film showing remarkable cinematographic creativity and vision, even if the story does not truly measure up to the visuals. 8/10
**How a Film is Made** Here is a film crafted with pure talent, overflowing creativity, an exceptional cast, and dazzling camera work. The director—who also stars in it and wrote the screenplay, adapting a novel—Albert Dupontel has the virtue of telling us, in a comedic tone (sometimes employing dark humor), the drama of the war's forgotten, the "cannon fodder" of armies who are neglected and abandoned by officers, the healthcare system, governments, and a whole network of scoundrels who profit from the postwar. Fortunately, neither the synopsis nor the trailer reveals or suggests anything about the plot, which is very, very original. I believe this film should be seen with the least possible plot information, because the novel by Pierre Lemaitre has been transferred to the screenplay with great ingenuity, and any development of the plot in a review would diminish the magic the story possesses. Let's say, broadly speaking, there is a sequential thread of characters who do not appear in vain from the beginning and who later fit into a virtuous circle, making the ending a brilliantly resolved mechanism for the film to conclude as it began. Perhaps the screenplay can be criticized for its psychologically abrupt definitions (the bad guys are extremely bad, the good guys are victims) and for its somewhat implausible coincidences, but if you engage with the mirror game the director proposes, you can likely overlook this Manichaeism and be fascinated by the offering. As a co-star, the Argentine Nahuel Pérez Bizcayart delivers a dazzling performance using only his eyes and hands, as he is almost always under some kind of mask. The special effects are frankly magnificent and serve a camera in permanent, dizzying crane shots that rise and fall to show us mass scenes (the 3 sequence shots at the beginning are anthological), allowing for a reconstruction of the era that would be impossible to achieve without using superimpositions. The cinematography and music captivate you, and as if that were not enough, it has one of the most emotional endings I will remember forever. A true feast for the senses, a work that will move your spirit and feelings, and which I warmly recommend.
