Patrie

The plays of Victorine Sardou have provided excellent material for operas notably the'Tosca' of Puccini. His play 'Patrie' was also turned into an opera but is, to my knowledge, never performed. When Sardou wrote his play in 1869 about sixteenth century Flemish attempts to break free from Spanish oppression he could not have foreseen how timeless it's theme would become. One year later marked the first of three occasions when the French suffered humiliating defeats by the Germans. A silent film version was made during the First World War and this version of 1946 could not fail to resonate with a people that had endured five years of Nazi occupation. Adapted by Charles Spaak with dialogue by Pierre Bost this has all the makings of a powerful drama and so it turns out to be. Both director Louis Daquin and leading actor Pierre Blanchar had by all accounts been involved in Resistance activity. Blanchard's rather subdued, austere style of acting and his innate nobility of manner make him perfect casting for the role of the Comte de Rysoor who leads the ill-fated insurrection whilst delicious Maria Mauban, making an assured film debut, plays his wife whose act of betrayal and subsequent fate echoes that of many collaborators. Nice to see a young Jean Desailly in his second film for this director as Rysoor's lieutenant who is 'condemned to live' and as a prelate the excellent Louis Seigneur is as always good value. His character serves to remind us of the historical moral ambiguity of the Catholic Church. Great sense of period here, splendid cinematography and a beautifully understated and well-employed score by Jean Wiener. Initially this film is pretty low-key but slowly builds to a tremendous and devastating climax. A first class film and arguably Daquin's best.