Suite Francaise [DVD] [2015]

Every so often a film comes along that has to be put on one’s list of films that should be compulsory viewing for everyone. In my view, Suite Française vies with Joyeux Noël for best anti-war film. Unlike all those post-WWII films churned out in the 1960s with their black-and-white morality that made all Germans evil Nazis, Suite Française seemingly achieves the impossible by being authored during the Occupation by a Jewish woman who manages to sympathetically portray forbidden love between a Frenchwoman and a young German officer who find themselves caught up in a situation of moral ambiguity. The author was subsequently deported and died in Auschwitz.How ironic that she was killed by the very people for whom she managed to feel such extraordinary empathy. Yet how appropriate that this healing story did not emerge until sixty years later, when finally it had become possible to entertain the idea of the moral ambiguity of WWII. The contradictions in this poignant love story make the film compelling viewing. The wonderful cast, superb acting, cinematography, realism, careful choice of sets, costumes, attention to detail and immediacy of the story, as well as the brooding atmosphere, all combine to make this film an absolute classic that can be watched many times over.

Great film with excellent performances but the film, inevitably, reduces a brilliant book to a fairly simple series of events around a love story. The book is SO much more, full of pathos, empathic and insightful into what France endured during the Nazi ocupation, the collaboration, the sacrifice, the struggle for survival, the selfishness of the wealthy. Finally, knowing that the author, and shortly after her husband, were murdered in Auschwitz towards the end of the war. One of the best books I have read.

I hadn't heard of this film or the book it is based upon, so the film was mostly a gamble based on enjoying films from the period (and especially those concerning the more intricate effects of how the war impacted on those involved on all fronts) and being in the mood for something romantic - and the cover, which looked interesting, implied both!But it was still a big surprise. I never expected such a very full and involved film, nor one of such quality and richness. I had no idea the that the nature of that romance was going to be as interesting or thought provoking as it was either and the film does a great job of shining a light on an area of war-time occupation that no doubt would have been very hard to approach at the time or in the immediate years to follow. But as this film quite beautifully shows, sleeping with the enemy isn't always black and white. And it does so on multiple fronts without ever sugar coating it - the intricacies and complexities of so many sudden emotional and physical changes that must befall on a people during occupation are always handled extremely well in the film (and from different angles and viewpoints) with a great sense of realism which makes the characters and their various plights incredibly easy to identify with and hold empathy for.The film builds this sense of realism and involvement from the offset with subtle but solid observations of life in France as the war progresses towards a German occupied outcome - from those refusing to accept this could ever happen despite the war now almost being upon the doorstep and so simply try to go about their daily life as though nothing has changed, to those who are rightfully terrified and preparing for the worst. We see how class can also affect how such prospects are handled and the there are also strong observations on the different behaviour and interactions between the French classes during the period. The film isn't overly long, but all of this is built and layered so incredibly well that before long it feels like you've been watching a mini-series or something similar and therefore know all of the characters and their environment incredibly well - the perfect landscape to be more greatly affected by the characters choices and fates.And this is where the film drops it's cherries on the icing of the cake - every single actor in this film is fantastic; from those you will hate to those you will love, they are all first class. Perfectly understated where needed, never overplayed or distracting, everyone gives the exact right amount of presence and weight to their role to have their character be completely believable and easy to identify with. This goes just as much for many smaller/supporting characters, but of course also plays out incredibly well between the main two leads. Michelle Williams and Matthias Schoenaerts, who I'd not seen in any role prior to this, were both superb in the very subtle building of palpable tension around their wanting for one another and the complex emotions this must have fostered - all transmitted with limited dialogue and predominantly through body language, eye contact, by the words that were not said and through small quiet actions - the film is a masterpiece at how to portray emotion without shouting about it, something the characters have to be acutely aware of given their situation. Their story is certainly a romantic one, but not one built on roses.A film of this type for me is rare to hold a great deal of the re-watch factor but this is definitely one I will be watching again!

One of the best movies I've ever seen. I almost didn't watch this, as I am not a fan of dreary war movies or the period in general and the cover image is a little trite; so I am glad I took a chance. I'm left with such a mixture of feelings. Technically: Everything is lovely!! Story & Writing. Acting. Direction. Cinematography. I was iffy about Michelle Williams being cast as a French Woman, but the casting is actually superb in this. There were some scenes which I think should have been rawer, but then there are so many scenes (with all the actors) where complicated emotions are delivered so subtly –much harder than the screaming and tears– that it makes up for it... An exploration of the best and the worst of the human spirit