|
|
Le Grand Meaulnes
2006 Drama
Review
Le Grand Ennui would have been
a more accurate title. It is hard to find anything positive to
say about this cack-handed adaptation of Alain-Fournier’s great novel,
a masterpiece of French literature which celebrates the idealism of
youth. How could a television director of the calibre of
Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe and a writer as distinguished as Jean Cosmos be
responsible for this sub-mediocre travesty of a film that is so totally
lacking in charm, narrative cohesion and sincerity? It is not easy to pinpoint exactly why this film is so bad, but an ill-chosen cast doesn’t exactly help matters. Jean-Baptiste Maunier is totally miscast (as becomes evident when his character has to age to manhood and he still looks like a cute fourteen-year-old, afflicted with the world’s most unconvincing moustache) and Nicolas Duvauchelle lacks the charisma for the part of Meaulnes. But at least these two can act, which is more than can be said for some of the other members of the cast. The film parts company with the novel near its end and closes with a sequence that is presumably inspired by the ultimate fate of Alain-Fournier, who was killed in action at the beginning of World War I. Even this part of the film fails to have a positive impact, and instead it merely adds to the impression that virtually everyone involved in the making of this film was suffering from an acute creative bypass. © filmsdefrance.com 2008 Write a review for this film...User Comments
How do you rate this film?
|
Director:
Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe
Starring: Nicolas Duvauchelle, Jean-Baptiste Maunier, Clémence Poésy, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Philippe Torreton Synopsis
November, 1910. Monsieur and Madame Seurel run a small boarding
school in a village in the Sologne region of France. One evening,
they take in a new pupil. 17-year-old Augustin Meaulnes, for whom their
son François develops an instant fascination. Augustin,
nicknamed "le grand Meaulnes" becomes a favourite amongst his
classmates, although his lack of discipline annoys his teacher.
One day, Augustin mysteriously disappears whilst taking a cart to the
station to collect François’s grandparents. The next day,
Augustin returns unexpectedly and tells François the most
extraordinary story...
Credits
 More French Drama |
 |
© filmsdefrance.com 2009