2011/12/08

Le sang des autres




The Blood of Others (film)

The Blood of Others

VHS cover
Directed by Claude Chabrol
Produced by Lamar Card
Denis Héroux
John Kemeny
Screenplay by Brian Moore
Based on The Blood of Others by
Simone de Beauvoir
Starring Jodie Foster
Michael Ontkean
Sam Neill
Music by Matthieu Chabrol
François Dompierre
Cinematography Richard Ciupka
Editing by Monique Fardoulis
Yves Langlois
Studio SuperChannel
CTV Television Network
Téléfilm Canada
Antenne-2
Filmax
Films A2
HBO
Release date(s) 2 May 1984
Running time 135 min.
Country France
Canada
United States
Language English
German

The Blood of Others (French: "Le sang des autres") is a 1984 film directed by Claude Chabrol. It is based on the 1945 novel The Blood of Others by Simone de Beauvoir. The film was originally made as a three hour television mini-series and then recut down 40 minutes for a theatrical release

Plot

In Nazi occupied France, Jean Blomart sits by a bed in which his lover Helene lays dying. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn about both characters and their relationship to each other. As a young man filled with guilt about his privileged middle-class life, Jean joins the Communist party and breaks from his family, determined to make his own way in life. After the death of a friend in a political protest, for which he feels guilty, Jean quits the Party and concentrates on trade union activities. Helene is a young designer who works in her family's confectionary shop and is dissatisfied with her conventional romance with her fiance Paul. She contrives to meet Jean, and although he initially rejects her, they form a relationship after she suffers an abortion following a reckless liaison with another man. Caring for Helene's happiness, Jean tells Helene he loves her even though he believes he does not. He proposes to her and she accepts.

When France enters the Second World War, Jean, conceding the need for violent conflict to effect change, becomes a soldier. Helene intervenes against his will to arrange a safe posting for him. Angry with her, Jean breaks their relationship. As the German forces advance towards Paris, Helene flees and witnesses the suffering of other refugees. Returning to Paris, she briefly takes up with a German who could advance her career, but soon sees what her countrymen are suffering. She also witnesses the roundup of Jews. Securing the safety of her Jewish friend Yvonne leads Helene back to Jean who has become a leader in a Resistance group. She is moved to join the group. Jean has reconnected with his father with the common goal to liberate France from Germany. His mother however is less impressed by the lives lost to the Resistance. Helene is shot in a resistance activity and during Jean's night vigil at her side, he examines his love for Helene and the wider consequences of his actions. As morning dawns, Helene dies and Jean decides to continue with acts of resistance.

Principal cast

Critical reception

From Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World Movie Reviews, who gave the film a C-:

“ A poorly done adaptation of Simone de Beauvoir's 1945 novel about the growth and self-sacrifice of a selfish American during the German Occupation of Paris. Claude Chabrol has no feel or interest for the Occupation subject matter, being more of a satirist of the bourgeois he seems like a fish out of water in this venture. His uninspired filming of this routine story and his plodding direction makes this dreary film one of his biggest bombs. If that wasn't bad enough, all the main actors are miscast. ”


Soundtrack

References

External links

Screenplays
Non-fiction
  • Canada (1963)

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