As the good French cinema connoisseur Leon aka writer's reign wrote, "it's the work of writer-director Gilles Legrand who recently gave us the brilliant "You Will Be My Son" " (=Tu Seras Mon Fils ).Both movies have more in common you may think of:in both,there's a person ready to push the others out of his way to satisfy his selfish deeds ;in the "Tu Seras Mon Fils" a wealthy landowner disowns his own son and almost "adopts " a young Turk so that his vineyard will become famous around the wine connoisseur world.In this 2008 movie, a manufacturer's son wants to drive the wolves away from their natural surroundings (or to kill them all) to make the mountains more profitable,more "bankable" ...
Wolves have always had a bad reputation;a child is told "the little red riding hood" as soon as he' s able to understand a tale ...and however....remember the Romulus and Remus legend ;one of the most famous swashbuckler of French cinema "Le Miracle Des Loups " (two versions: a silent one and a well known one starring Jean Marais ) shows a young countess saved from the villains by a circle of wolves ;and I will not even mention Kevin Costner 's work ,which writer's reign smartly evokes in his witty title....
Gilles Legrand is a special case in the contemporary French cinema: his is the return of the popular cinema,in the noblest sense of the word ,his is the linear story ,the extraordinary sense of space: the scene when Angèle flies over the mountains is simply beautiful: a score,recalling sometimes Pachelbel's canon as well as the best of George Delerue,superbly enhances the scene .
WW1,which breaks out at the beginning of the story, is depicted in admirably succinct style,using archive films ;the death of the brother, "thanks" to the patriotic mom, urges Angele to take a rebel stand :if it was an awful slaughter,some were war profiteers ,as Emile and his father.Angèle refuses this macho world and wants to become a vet surgeon,which was unthinkable for a woman at the time (we're told that the first woman got her diploma in 1931).Because all the men around laughs at her,she will live with the wolves ,with Giuseppe , a young hermit who may be (or may not be) Emile's half-brother -which explains the hatred which explodes near the torrent- .A very modern woman,she refuses to marry Emile ,the ideal son-in-law to his old dad .This young Turk represents all that she hates.Her flee to fascist Italy may seem naive ,but she is true to herself and she does not care for politics as long as her wild life is preserved ;the last (admirable) picture shows Angèle and Giuseppe heading for a "marvelous" country .....
The cast is perfect: Leatitia Casta as the rebel woman,Jean-Paul Rouve as the greedy young heir,and Patrick Chesnais -Legrand would use again in "Tu Seras Mon Fils" as the terminally-ill dad- as the good father overtaken by events.
Wolves have always had a bad reputation;a child is told "the little red riding hood" as soon as he' s able to understand a tale ...and however....remember the Romulus and Remus legend ;one of the most famous swashbuckler of French cinema "Le Miracle Des Loups " (two versions: a silent one and a well known one starring Jean Marais ) shows a young countess saved from the villains by a circle of wolves ;and I will not even mention Kevin Costner 's work ,which writer's reign smartly evokes in his witty title....
Gilles Legrand is a special case in the contemporary French cinema: his is the return of the popular cinema,in the noblest sense of the word ,his is the linear story ,the extraordinary sense of space: the scene when Angèle flies over the mountains is simply beautiful: a score,recalling sometimes Pachelbel's canon as well as the best of George Delerue,superbly enhances the scene .
WW1,which breaks out at the beginning of the story, is depicted in admirably succinct style,using archive films ;the death of the brother, "thanks" to the patriotic mom, urges Angele to take a rebel stand :if it was an awful slaughter,some were war profiteers ,as Emile and his father.Angèle refuses this macho world and wants to become a vet surgeon,which was unthinkable for a woman at the time (we're told that the first woman got her diploma in 1931).Because all the men around laughs at her,she will live with the wolves ,with Giuseppe , a young hermit who may be (or may not be) Emile's half-brother -which explains the hatred which explodes near the torrent- .A very modern woman,she refuses to marry Emile ,the ideal son-in-law to his old dad .This young Turk represents all that she hates.Her flee to fascist Italy may seem naive ,but she is true to herself and she does not care for politics as long as her wild life is preserved ;the last (admirable) picture shows Angèle and Giuseppe heading for a "marvelous" country .....
The cast is perfect: Leatitia Casta as the rebel woman,Jean-Paul Rouve as the greedy young heir,and Patrick Chesnais -Legrand would use again in "Tu Seras Mon Fils" as the terminally-ill dad- as the good father overtaken by events.