Customer Reviews

Colonel Chabert [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This directorial debut for cinematographer Yves Angelo who shot Claude Berri's Germinal and Alain Corneau's Tous Les Matins du Monde is an exciting achievement, visually ravishing. This is a beautiful realisation of the Honore de Balzac story of a soldier thought to have been killed in the 1807 Battle of Eylau, who returns to Paris to reclaim his name and fortune from his now remarried wife. The similarity to The Return of Martin Guerre is drawn because of the casting of Gerard Depardieu as the soldier, but the identity of Chabert is never challenged. Angelo includes footage of the battle using a blue filter and we see the obscenity of war by the burning of a dead horse, and the nobility of of a charge via the thudding of hooves on snow. When human bodies are piled to be buried the mud makes the image sculptural. These sequences are brief flashbacks but they, and the training camp where Chabert resides with white bears during negotiations for his claim, help us to understand his character. The film is well-paced, with scenes timed at just the right speed to allow an audience to appreciate the intricacies of the tale unfolding. Of note are the editing of a pre-bed servant ritual which is carried out, without fuss, under a conversation, and Depardieu finding eggs in a birds nest signalling the appearance of his former wife's children. Since the screenplay is based on a novel, part of the pleasure to be had is in the richness of the language, delivered by 3 superb actors. Chabert is a wounded character and Depardieu hides him under a large hat, reminiscent of a fop and The Cat in the Hat. If Depardieu is not as memorable as he has been in other roles it's probably because here he defers his scenes to Fabrice Luchini as his lawyer and Fanny Ardant as his former wife. Luchini is the mediator between the two and while his words may soothe, his eyes are daggers. Ardant at times resembles Ingrid Bergman and she isn't afraid to show how manipulative her character is. Her love for Chabert is explicably entangled with his money and her soft dresses, bonnets and ribbons hide a viper. A special nod to the costume designer Franca Squarciapino, and to Angelo's discreet use of classical music.

"Le Colonel Chabert" is a reflective commentary on the suffering of a single man, whose identity, wife, and fortune have been lost. Returning from "the dead", Chabert finds himself in a state of pain; alone and poor. Yet even worse, the world and questions his own existence. This film is yet another french classic, highlighting the career of Gerard Depardieu. "Le Colonel Chabert" forces one to confront death, misfortune, betrayal, and the subjectivity of the definition of insanity.

Yves Angelo's adaptation of Balzac's classic short story is a moving work in which the direction, cinematography and acting all excel in manifesting Honore de Balzac's moving exploration of the human condition.

The morbid opening scene of the aftermath of Napoleon's phyrric victory at Eylau is accentuated by haunting melody of Beethoven's "Ghost" trio: a recurring thematic image througout the film. One truly feels how vanquished and disillusioned the colonel must have felt in seeing himself among the piles of corpses on the frigid battlefield. All the colonel wants is to be reunited with his identity that his heartless wife has denied him for the past decade. The colonel himself is a ghost among the living; a man with only a past but no future: a man whose sense of self died along with the ambitions of the Napoleanic reign. His wife wants only the lavish life which he had made available to her but not his person; his "death" ensures and continues her prosperous life. The movie truly captures the deep character study typical of Honore de Balzac's works.

Altogether a brilliant film with great direction and powerful acting. I hope the film will soon be released on DVD.

Quite a wonderful movie that gets better every time I watch it. Superb acting. Elegant script.

Colonel Chabert (French with English subtitles) This story of a hero of the Napoleanic wars, presumed dead, is deliberately slow-moving so it can characterize the deathly slow dirge of time when you've lost everything. The Colonel has been in and out of madhouses for ten years, and continuously rejected by his wife who has since remarried and enjoyed the high lifestyle he left her with. A terrifying look at identity and humanity's colder side. A very interesting film, based on a novel by Balzac.

There are war movies and there are movies about soldiers. This is closer to the latter. Though on an intellectual level, its more about displacement, finding one's way back, and learning that what was once important no longer is.

Also see Breaker Morant and the Duellists.

Honoree de Balzac's novels are known for their callous and cool characters of 19th Century France.Anne Chabert has moved on and remarried now that her Colonel/husband has been dead these past ten years.Enter The Colonel,ready to reclaim his name,his wife,his fortune only to be shunned and blocked at all turns.Fanny Ardent and Gerard Depardieu are no strangers to the acting in adaptations of Balzac's works.They succeed on all levels as two of the best French actors ever to grace the screen.The excellent companion film to COLONEL CHABERT would be BALZAC,again featuring Ardent and Depardieu,as well as COUSIN BETTE, another Balzac adaptation.THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE(also starring Depardieu) and it's American remake SOMMERSBY also contain the similar themes of lost identity.

Wonderfully acted by Gerard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant, and beautifully
shot.

A man re-emerges 10 years after being declared dead in the Napoleonic
wars. He wants something, but even HE doesn't seem sure what - his
money his wife kept, and brought to her new marriage? Revenge on her
for forgetting him? To win her back?

Meanwhile, her own lawyer also takes on Chabert's side of the case,
trying to broker a compromise, before word leaks out and all involved
are ruined in scandal. (Fabrice Luchini is great as the lawyer who's
motives are always a little mysterious).

An interesting, subtle study of what's really of value in life.

My only complaint is that some of the Machiavellian machinations are a
little obviously played by both Ardant's character and her greedy,
wormy new husband, who values a peerage over marriage, love or family.
Somehow that artifice made the film a bit less emotionally powerful
than it might be. But I'd gladly see it again.

Amazing and beautifully shot film with dazzling performances! Just when you think Depardieu the actor is starting to chew the scenery a bit, you remember that this is a general, a veteran of many long and arduous campaigns. Is he making a false retreat, a frontal attack, playing possum?? His performance reveals the shallowness of blockbuster Generals, like the recent Gladiator! The visuals alone would make it worth the price, but this is a complete film. From story to design to performance, it's fantastic!

A really good movie. The director follows the time period fairly well in terms of props and constumes. Acting is top-notch, but that's expected when you look at the cast. There are several scenes where I was blown away by the powerfull cinematography. I think that the director wielded great power to impact the audience's emotions but he just didn't use it to the fullest extent. Also, I felt like characters were definetely under-developed, except maybe for Mr. Derville. Overall, an amazing movie with extremely moving scenes but not enough character development; great potential that just wasn't used.