Ces amours-là (What War May Bring) is a charming love story set against the backdrop of war-torn Europe. In this case, love is not a single story of romance but a lifetime of a woman that unfolds before our eyes. It is a story of survival, conviction and compassion. It is a moment in each woman’s life when she wants to look back and recount the pains and pleasures she experienced, to look at the faces of the men who touched her life. The music in this film gently guides us through the five stories of Ilva’s (Audrey Dana) dramatic affairs and hints at Claude Lelouch’s autobiographical undertones celebrating his 50 years of filmmaking.
The movie applauds a woman in her passionate freedom to love and be loved in the time of despotic political regime and war-beaten morale. Although the intentions in unfolding this intricate story of survival were there, they somehow fell short of delivering the message loud and clear and, instead, tiptoed around all the major historical turning points. We all know that sleeping with a SS officer in captive France was a big no-no and women were shaved bold, beaten and ridiculed by the crowds. We also know that romances happening between American soldiers and local ladies of loose morale rarely came into fruition as the war came to an end. The movie is irritating in its ability to somehow touch on all the dark concepts and history yet also steer clear of ever exploring them in depth or pay them any credit in shaping the main characters. Besides the magical musical accompaniment, the film is full of superficial, unrealistic and blasé interchanges that are simply yawn-worthy. For a director as famous and talented as Claude Lelouch, you have to pick your battles. If you explore the theme of war-torn Europe, make it real – show us gut-wrenching depth of suffering and its effect on the relationships of people and, please, do not skim over it as though it was some insignificant background nuance. Otherwise, do us all a favor and choose some other time period and really focus on it. Do not get me wrong – it is not meant to be a historical movie and I do not evaluate it as such. However, it still has to honor the true sentiment of the time once it decides to use it as it backdrop. Not a bad film for a rainy night in but nothing extraordinary to explore otherwise.
Trailer:
No comments:
Post a Comment