I was deeply moved by this film. Most war films focus on the combatants, or the horrible genicide of the Holocaust, but this one captured the plight of refugees reluctantly leaving their homes in a hopeless attempt to avoid occupation, as their region was in WW1. The characters depicted totally captured my imagination. Their fear and suffering brought me to tears. My gauge of a very good movie is one where I completely forget I'm watching something on a screen. Acting, directing, cinematography, editing, musical score, and story...excellent.

After "Joyeux Noel" which dealt with the truce in the trenches in the WW1 slaughter, he tackles here another somber hour of French history :the flight of civilians from the north of France during the German invasion in 1940.

So the movie begins with archive films,like "jeux interdits" ("forbidden games") ,René Clément's masterpiece (1952). It's not really a true story but it's based on the director's mother's memories and it certainly means a lot to him.

Carion is a heir to the neglected cinema de papa ,he makes cinema populaire ,but like his peers of yore,he shows respect for the public, he's a wonderful story teller and his actors direction is faultless. And this cinema is a thousand more gripping than the dominant genre on the French scene ,the "feel good"

That is not to say his movie is faultless : it is a sprawling work ,with two parallel plots ,and all that concerns the Scottish soldier (why not a French soldier by the way?the problem would have been the same , he and the German refugee were "enemies"too ) often gets in the way ,but it at least provides some good scenes -the propaganda movies and the bagpipe Rhys plays for the Germans' movie camera .

On the other hand , the desperate odyssey of the villagers ,led by a mayor overtaken by events and history , is deeply moving and excellent .Olivier Gourmet,true to form, ,a God-forsaken Mosis ,leads his people to the promised land ,namely Dieppe harbor ; it' s the first time screenwriters have detailed this exodus :it's really hard to leave your farm, your house,most of your belongings and your dear memories behind ; along the way ,one can see scribbled messages on the blackboard or on the walls . Pretending there are things which remain in spite of it all ,the mayor gathers his town concil under the bust of Marianne in a makeshift townhall (in open air).

Women did not vote (they had this right after WW2 in 1946) and thus were not part of the council but it does not prevent the mayor's wife (the excellent Mathilde Seignier) from taking a rebel stand and leading the plundering of the grocer's shop (a selfish couple who predates ,unfortunately, the "everyman for himself" motto of certain French) ,a scene which recalls Zola's "Germinal" .

There are implausibilities of course : Gourmet had a lung removed because of the mustard gas ,but he does not seem to suffer from it; the father-and-son reunion (although the messages on the blackboard of the schools is a good idea ).

Ennio Morricone is ,as always , splendid and gives a western touch to this epic; Edith Piaf's and Charles Trenet's songs are thrown in for good measure.

Carion has a good sense of space and a sinister way of introducing the air raids by showing first a threatening shadow on the peaceful sunny country; the tanks making their way through the fields is also an impressive moment .

This is a beautifully done film with an excellent script well acted with characters you come to care about and take to your heart, especially the father and little boy who desperately try to reunite after being separated during the War. Matthew Rhys is perfect as the gutsy British commander who has lost his entire battalion but stays to fight another day, knowing full well he may not survive.

Ennio Morricone's score is inspiring an perfect for the terrors and longings in the film. Bravo to the director, writers, actors and all involved. A film like this seldom comes along. But thank heavens it did and cheers to Cohen Media for making it available.

With sub-titles and a serious theme, it's not a money-maker, alas, not a slasher nor a horror nor an action film to bring in money, but we are grateful it got made. We have need for films like this.