THE WIDOW OF ST. PIERRE

(Fr. with English subtitles)

"The Widow of St. Pierre" is an atmospheric period piece based on an historical incident from 1850. The heart of the story concerns the military attaché and his dutiful wife who painstakingly attempt to live a life of dignity in the shadows of the garrison’s prison walls on the French Canadian coastal island of St. Pierre. Their ideals are scrutinized by the ruling politicians and their love put to the test when their fates become irrevocably linked to that of a condemned man.

A ship’s captain is killed by two drunken seamen when their practical joke goes awry. The men are condemned to die by guillotine as required by French law. One dies in an accident and the other, Neel Auguste (Emir Kusturica), must wait out his sentence until a guillotine can be found. The wife, Madame La (Juliette Binoche), attempts to bring beauty to her stark surroundings with a garden and enlists Neel’s help with her husband’s approval. They develop a mutual trust through their actions and deeds and Neel is eventually allowed to roam the island freely in his waking hours. He earns a measure of self respect when he falls in love with a local woman and wins the hearts of the islanders through an unselfish act of bravery. Where Madame La sees a man redeemed, the Governor still sees a murderer. What follows is a tug of war between her humanism and the letter of the law.

The plot of "The Widow of St. Pierre" could easily have spun off in any number of directions as an action movie or a chase film with Neel escaping to parts unknown, but director Patrice Leconte is more interested in revealing the fabric of people’s lives. Most of the inhabitants of St. Pierre eke out an existence from the sea while others rely on the outside world to supply their needs. Leconte uses minute details and incidence to create a distinctive sense of time and place and the motives of the opposing forces who have a vested interest in Neel’s fate. Madame La believes Neel has made his peace with God and should be pardoned. The Governor believes a pardon would undermine his authority and that Neel’s freedom would pose a threat to law and order. He is determined to have him executed. All the Governor needs is the guillotine and an executioner. Neither one can be found on the island. Neel becomes the master of his own fate through another unselfish act, while the Captain seals his own through his unswerving support for his wife’s views.

Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil imbue their love struck couple with an air of mystery that commands our attention even in their most sullen moments. They use a shorthand composed of looks and gestures that reveal their ardent desire for each other but offer little evidence about their past. Yet, you get the sense that they’ve been exiled to the barren outpost across the ocean for some slight to the civil authorities in France. The Governor of St. Pierre views their self-righteousness as an act of defiance and their interest in the welfare of the islanders over his own wishes as a dereliction of duty and sedition. The Captain sees his support for his wife’s cause as an act of love for a remarkable woman who has come with him to the ends of the earth out of her own love for him and without regard to personal hardship. Leconte uses Neel Auguste’s story to broaden his canvas to explore his ideas on the power of their love in life and in death.

"The Widow of St. Pierre" is a triumphant thought provoking work that makes the past come alive with the concerns of the present.

Copyright 2001

"Ridicule" (1996) - (Fr. with English subtitles) - Leconte uses another historical incident to create a remarkable story about a landowner (Charles Berling) who must resort to the life and death mind games of the French Court with a savage wit as his only defense in order to win an audience with King Louis XVI. The man wants the King to fund a public water works project to rid his property of the rampant disease that plagues his tenants. This amazingly funny and wittily brutal film was an Oscar contender for Best Foreign Film. Also with Fanny Ardent and Jean Rochefort.

"Rendez-vous" (1985) (Fr. with English subtitles) Dir. Andre Techine Binoche is a legitimate actress who gets hot and heavy with a male porn star and his mentor with disastrous results when the thin line between acting and reality begin to blur. Not for all tastes but it’s a chance to see Binoche in the flush of youth. Also with Jean-Louis Trintignant.

"The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (1988) - Dir. Philip Kaufman: Binoche’s first English language film as the woman who ends up with a philandering doctor amidst the chaos of the Hungarian Revolution. With Daniel Day Louis as the doctor and Lena Olin as one of the dominant women in his life.

"Jean de Florette" (1986) - Auteuil is Ugolin, a simpleton caught up in a scheme to acquire some land rumored to have an underground spring that would make it valuable. Gerard Depardieu is the novice hunchback farmer who is duped and Yves Montand is the mastermind behind his fall. Slow and methodic but absorbing nonetheless. The actors are all superb.

"Manon of the Spring" (1986) - Auteuil repeats his role in this sequel to "Jean de Florette." Florette’s grown daughter seeks revenge against the men responsible for her father’s death. Once again, slow and methodic but still absorbing.