TDR RATING - 8/10
It feels like every minute there is a movie adaptation of a
book. Please don't take that the wrong way, I don’t have anything against this because pictures need source
material. If anything I'm as pro-adaptation as I am genuine originality; How many guises have we seen a re-hashed Shakespeare play. Suite Française, adds to the
plethora of adaptations out there. For me there were reminders the passion of
Charlotte Gray (2001) and a hint of grit of 2014’s Fury. The romance is a well-executed
story; believable in the time and an honest glimpse of how it was to live
as a married woman in war-time France, when marriages were a thing of status. The social impact of a German army descending
onto a small French town was depicted with brutal realism and truth.
Other than the enchanting
Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas and new 'hot property' Margot Robbie,
there is very little that is Hollywood about this picture. The colour and tone of the picture is stark and grim. The only true glimpse of colour are in the dresses of Lucille Angellier played by Williams, they are very much representational of her emotions. Irène Némirovsky
wrote the text during Nazi occupied France; Suite Française it is thought of as
a true reflection of the times, the pain is very real. Though the text was unfinished due to her
classification as a person of Jewish faith, despite her conversion to
Catholicism; her fate was to die of typhus in Auschwitz in 1942.
The power of
the music is perfect, sublime and yet epic; it’s a tour de force of emotion. A
couple brought together through a mutual love of music is a true Romeo and Juliet
scenario, I know another Shakespeare reference! I suppose this could be seen as a
chick flick, it’s target audience is most definitely women. But that isn’t to
say that it doesn’t have a broader range of appeal. It’s just not all gunfire
and violence.
I need to give a quick nod to Sam Riley as Benoit Labarie; Berets
off to you sir you did a cracking job, what a hero!
No comments:
Post a Comment