Suite Française

9/10

Irène Némirovsky was a French author of Jewish origins, who died in 1942 during the Holocaust; her last novel "Suite Française" was discovered in manuscript by her daughter in the nineties and first published in 2004. This film is officially an Anglo-Franco-German co-production, but features an American leading lady and, although the German characters speak to one another in their own language, the French ones all speak English. Such is the Anglo-Saxon domination of the movie business these days that the French find it difficult to get a French-language film made out of a novel set in France by a leading French novelist. The action takes place in 1940, in the town of Bussy in Nazi-occupied France. A young woman named Lucille Angellier falls in love with Bruno von Falk, a German officer. Lucille is married, but her marriage does not seem to a happy one and she discovers that her husband has a mistress and an illegitimate child. Bruno is also married, but we learn little of his wife in Germany. The standard way of making a drama like this would be to make Bruno a "good German"- i.e. anti-Nazi. Here the position is a bit more complicated. Bruno is good-looking, courteous, and sensitive and sees himself as humane. In civilian life he was a composer and musician; the title derives from his latest composition. Yet he is not anti-Nazi. Indeed, he seems to be in sympathy with elements of Nazi ideology, although he prefers to speak of the "collective spirit". He claims to be a Francophile, but can see nothing wrong with his country invading and occupying France if the German leadership believes that military necessity demands it. His main complaint is that some of his countrymen make it impossible to wage war in the correct chivalrous spirit. At first there is no active resistance in the area; some French people actively collaborate with the Germans while others try to get on with their lives as best they can. Things change when a local farmer shoots dead a Nazi officer who has been making advances towards his wife. The man goes into hiding and the German commander orders harsh reprisals. Lucille is faced with a moral dilemma, and Bruno realises that war can no longer be a matter of chivalry. The best acting performance comes from Kristin Scott Thomas as Lucille's domineering mother-in-law. The wealthy Madame Angellier is not popular in the town, partly because she is a prize snob and partly because she treats her tenants with disdain, mercilessly rack-renting them. (Her wealth derives from her ownership of land which she leases out to local farmers at high rents). When the invasion comes, however, she reveals herself to be a truer patriot than many of those who despise her, refusing to have any truck with the occupying soldiers. Michelle Williams and Matthias Schoenaerts, however, never give much sense of any grand passion; I was somewhat disappointed in Williams who was better in some of the other films in which I have seen her, such as "My Week with Marilyn" and "Shutter Island". Indeed, I was somewhat disappointed in the film as a whole. I have never read Némirovsky's novel, but I have heard it described as a rediscovered masterpiece, so I came to the film expecting something special. It isn't. It isn't anything particularly bad either, but it is certainly no masterpiece. It is little more than the sort of standard wartime romance with which we in Britain have become very familiar over the years since 1945. The very implausible ending seemed to have been contrived to tack a happy conclusion onto a story which seemed to be moving inexorably towards tragedy. It might have been better if "Suite Française" had been made as a French language movie; it might not have done such good business at the box office, but it might have had more originality and artistic integrity if the producers had not had to worry about how it would go down in Germany, Britain and America. 6/10

Full feeling of the movie: It's a good movie if you are in complicated Romance movies. it properly shows how people find feelings in war even if those people are an opposing force. That said there is a movie which I feel shares similar points although being different in many ways including country of setting, people and their relations. As this is my first review I do not know if this is allowed but will give it a shot. I feel this movie is very close related to Captain Corelli's Mandolin with Nicholas Cage and Penelope Cruz. But there are still many differences in the movie. And the similarities are only in the few settings of the movie. It is worth the watch. About the reaction of the story: I drawn to the story from the first 10 minutes. Although I felt the male protagonist had a bit of a unimpressive introduction. as I entered the final scene of the film I looked at running time and saw it was almost done. The story is put well together and interesting that you will want for more. Final sentence: Its very well worth your time to watch this movie

I ready some pretty poor reviews for this film.This was mainly because the reviewers think it didn't match up to the famous novel.I have not ready the book so unlike the reviewers came to this film without preconceived notions.I found it surprisingly god.Despite the rather strange convention of Germans speaking German to their countrymen but English elsewhere.despite the "good" Nazi officer falling for the Frech woman in his house.He delivers the coup de grace to the Mayor of the town but he is better than the others since he plays the piano and lets his lover go off to Paris notwithstanding the fact that she has shot a German sentry.I felt it faithfully replicated the period and stood on its own as a entertaining film.So ignore the dilly reviews.

The life and death of Irène Némirovsky and the fate of the cycle of novels that inspired 'Suite francaise' could be the subject of a thrilling movie, a different one. Born in 1903 in an Ukrainian Jewish family, she took refuge to France after the First World War with her family flying the Russian revolution, but was never granted French citizenship. Converting to Catholicism and writing French nationalistic (some consider these anti-Semitic) fiction did not spare her the fate of the majority of the French Jews - deportation to the concentration camps and death (at Auschwitz). 'Suite francaise' was planned to be a five volumes saga about the years of war, written as the events happened. Irene Nemirovsky wrote only two of them before being deported, the manuscript was unread for more than half of a century until discovered by her daughter and published as what has become a historical novel about the years of the war. I did not read (yet) the books, but from the synopsis on Wikipedia I understand that the script departs quite afar from the original. The (spectacular) introduction scenes may not be in the book but they are useful to understand the context and the historical moment. Similarly, the final seems to be a Hollywood patch, not necessarily adding anything. The core of the film resides in the building love story between the young French woman whose husband is a prisoner of war and the German officer who is allocated to live in their house. It's a complex relationship, and the merit of the script is that it avoids the black-white, bad-good nuances and moral judgments leaving room for the feelings and emotions. There is also a strong social content, both in the main story (are love or even co-existence allowed between occupier and occupied? here is a question valid also in other times and places) and in the secondary story of the mayor-viscount who pays with his life the price of collaboration. Ambiguity is however the tone that works here best. One of the hard obstacles for viewers of 'Suite francaise' is the fact that the film is American and spoken in English. I do not know whom I should ask, but I would certainly loved to see a French version. Maybe it's still easier for the non-French to deal with the theme of 'la collaboration'? Beautiful and fragile Michelle Williams and tormented and introspective Matthias Schoenaerts do both good acting jobs in the main roles, but best of all is Kristin Scott Thomas as the mother-in-law who may make you change your mind about the moral fabric of the French high classes. Saul Dibb is only at his third long feature film and directs with kind of an academic touch not exactly to my taste, but there are many good reasons to go and see this film.

I am not a German. But I am really sick and tired of this kind of movie. The German officer has absolutely no sense of pride. How come he could help a Frenchman that killed one of his fellow officers to get away, even if the driver of the get-away car happens to be woman who had had some romantic association with him? Does a German soldier who places his personal feelings ahead of his duty to his country and fellowship with his comrades qualify as a 'good German'? Come on, this character Benoir killed no less than three German soldiers. Consider this: Would the French themselves condon a Frenchman doing the same thing in a reverse circumstance? No way! They would have shot him if they found out.

What a lovely movie. A truly horrid time, war, finds something so real and alive, love and passion. Michelle Williams is a true untapped resource for a strong performance. I wish she did more films. She is stunning in the most real and beautiful way. She draws you in and makes you feel every emotion tenfold. A true powerhouse of talent. Kristin Scott Thomas plays the perfect stone old maid but with an underlying warm heart. In a time of war everyone had to brick their hearts away or be dragged under by the war machine. She portrays that beautifully. She plays the part from top to bottom with the zest of a Disney villain. BUT, don't judge too quickly. Matthias....ahhh Matthias. Can't get me enough of him. Yet another hidden gem of Hollywood.

I loved this movie! I generally love most World War II movies simply because I enjoy the culture during that time in history. However, this movie really did take me by surprise. I thought just by viewing the thumbnail and the quick Bio that it could have potential, so I decided to watch it. Not only did it meet the potential that I thought it had, it surpassed it! I don't want to give any spoilers away, but there was something that happened during the movie that I simply didn't agree with, thus giving it only 9 out of 10 stars. But I still highly recommend this movie!

No such thing as a free lunch? And what about free film screenings? Nothing to lose, I guess and despite there being something suspect about the poster presentation and a less than inspiring trailer was convinced by others that the original book was so good, this would be fine. Oh dear! This begins well with lines of Parisians fleeing their city for the presumed safety of the outskirts and a splendid and exciting sequence but very quickly descends into 'soap'. There is no other word for it for not only does it become predictable but it is only superficially about the struggle to survive with the German occupation and really about the developing romantic liaisons and family concerns. Beautifully shot but drivel like dialogue and picture and word and music contrive to achieve the height of sentimentality when we should have been shoved much closer to the hell that it must have been, collaboration or not.

Perhaps the best thing about 'Suite Française' is that the love story is intriguing. This is a rare thing nowadays and brings to mind the great heyday of romance in the Seventies. 'Suite Française' is set in Nazi occupied France during the start of World War II. You will therefore be crying with powerful and furious emotion. Michelle Williams is at the fore front of this film; gladly she does not fail or let the production team down in any respect. She plays a French Villager (I think) called Lucile Angellier. I say this statement with doubt as last time I checked French people did not speak English as their first language. Her overbearing mother is played with severity by Kristin Scott Thomas. She outright leads her daughter's life for her and plays a prominent role in all of her decisions, whether they be little or large. Their village becomes ruled and dictated by German soldiers, some much more brutal than others. There are different personalities and beliefs to each of them. This is great to see, because it paints a broader and larger painting. It shows us that not everyone can be placed definitively into a category. Lucile is eventually watched over by a lieutenant by the name of Bruno Von Falk. Yes they do fall in love. But it is not as clichéd as I had suspected even if it does fall prone to a few nearly unavoidable clichés. It is the small subtleties that shape their romance. Lucille grows tired of her mother being in charge of her own life and this relationship allows her to become more independent and free minded. This provides the audience with depth, as it is not just a forbidden romance, but a necessary one as well. The lieutenant is acted sufficiently by Matthias Schoenaerts, who proves that he is not just a pretty face off of Hollywood's conveyor belt of seemingly endless blank, bland and boring male actors. The horrors of war are slightly forgotten about as the film enters its later stages of the romance. But I cannot become too angry at the film, as it is a romance and not a war film. The film maintains good pacing, so that nothing is sudden and unexpected. This is an absolute necessity as we must become invested in the romance as time progresses. This is something that the Director should be proud of. That we maintain a surging like towards the two leads and always care about the characters. For the impatient they may find the whole affair too plodding, as there is only one action set piece located at the start of the film and even that is as brief as they come. But ask yourself, do we really need more action; for this type of film, no, absolutely not. In the last act of it, it becomes a sad if predictable experience, which therefore means that the smallest trace of a tear is kept at bay. The film in its final moments is everything that it promised us it would not be; clichéd and predictable. Although far too predictable in its final act 'Suite Française' represents one of the more plausible romances in recent memory. The acting is enthusiastic by Michelle Williams and the male lead gets the job done. 'Suite Française' may be too drama heavy, but if the romance is this engaging; then frankly my dear I don't give a damn.