This film is a beautiful epic which takes places during the times of the French Revolution.

As Alexandre Dumas and his colleagues as A. De Leuven, Auguste Maquet,… , Jean Paul Rappeneau based his story perfectly on the historical facts of this very troubled time. Through the adventures of Nicolas Philibert, the film illustrates and makes us easily understand the ins and outs, ideologies, claims and the affinities of the protagonists of this historical period.

A wind of freedom blows with the revolution and the adventurous Nicolas Philibert go quickly in the gaps of history to make the best for his incredible destiny irrevocably and irresistibly tied to her best friend from childhood, his wife Charlotte.

Great adventures in the tone of comedy, particularly accentuated by the strong and turbulent relationship between Nicolas and Charlotte which is light and adventurous and well embodied on the screen by the couple and Jean Paul Belmondo Marlene Jobert. The distribution of this film is noteworthy in view of the many talented and famous actors present: Charles Denner, Patrick Dewaere, Pierre Brasseur, George Beller, Sami Frey, Julien Guiomar, Paul Crauchet, Guibet Henry, Jacques Legras, Jean Pierre Marielle, Sim, Michel Auclair, Maurice Barrier, Laura Antonelli ... A French cast worthy of the greatest productions.

Indeed, it is a great production, as evidenced by a lot of action scenes; by, most of the time, authentic natural sets, by a lot of great period costumes for the large number of extras. The final battle is a perfect illustration of the means of production. This battle may also seem too widely developed on the screen relative to its own importance in the history of the characters, but it allows us to immerse well, to better accommodate with the clever, strong, short and very nice epilogue. She also serves as a spectacular finale to the film that may have some lengths and appears to be longer than it actually is. Lengths are very easily digested when the whole scenario took place on the screen.

Adventure, Comedy, technical talents and a special mention for the intelligent use of history make this film "les mariés de l'an deux" a very good film.

jelios

[email protected]

Jean-Paul Rappeneau's second feature is not as funny and involving as his first, La vie de château. The French Revolution is the background for love and sword fights, with a veritable Pleiade of French stars: Belmondo, Jobert, Laura Antonelli, Pierre Brasseur, Sami Frey, Michel Auclair (who handles his role very well indeed). There is an amusing subplot involving the Royalist faction that shows the talents of Frey and Antonelli as brother and sister; they are plotting to restore the Prince to the throne, if only they can get their tangled emotions in order.

It's a lovely production: cinematography excellent, set design wonderful (Alexander Trauner),actors very enthusiastic, yet it seems to go on a bit longer than its ninety minutes.

There are going to be some spoilers, so readers beware...

Nicolas, who has done very well for himself in America, is about to marry the beautiful daughter of his friend and business partner. However, during the ceremony an unkind soul points out that Nicolas has a legitimate spouse, back home in his country of origin. When the dust has settled, Nicolas decides to travel back to France, in order to obtain an official divorce from his wife Charlotte. This is not going to be easy, since the French Revolution is still moving at a good clip, complete with battles, trials and bloodbaths. Meanwhile Charlotte has shacked up with a dashing marquis who wants to restore the monarchy...

This is one of the great French classics. There are many things to like about the movie : the funny, twisty story, the superb costumes and the rousing musical score with its many clever references to the historical era. The main attraction, however, is the Jobert - Belmondo combination, which in the early 1970's must have meant box office gold and which even nowadays provides the viewer with a great deal of fun. Jobert is in charge of charm, frivolity and small-boned fragility, while Belmondo, who is in great swashbuckling shape, takes care of the countless fistfights, stunts and escapes. Together they are pretty near irresistable.

Still, it needs to be said that this is not your run-of-the-mill comical adventure movie. To begin with, during the first half of the movie the Charlotte character is living together with a handsome and charismatic young aristocrat. The young man, who is gallant and dashing, has a beautiful young sister who is also gallant and dashing. After some adventures, brother and sister decide to ditch their respective lovers and admirers, since they are each other's great love. French aristocracy was indeed inbred, but this is taking things to a whole new level... Secondly, it was a very unusual idea to set such a light, sunny story in such a dark period of history. In the movie the juxtaposition pays off, mostly, but one cannot shake the idea that most real-life Frenchmen (of whatever origins or convictions) went through a living hell.

As a child I had a little playmate who had a French family name and who did, indeed, descend from a French ancestor. The said ancestor had fled all the way to Belgium, under a variety of aliases, after having been condemned to death during the French Revolution. His great crime was this : as an infant, he had been baptized something like "Aimé Dieudonné Leroy" (Well-beloved Given-by-God King). This was an inoffensive, traditional name, but some twenty years later it could qualify as treason against the State. This is not the stuff comedy is made of, this is the stuff nightmares are made of...