Les Caprices d'un fleuve
1996 History / Drama   
 
Credits
  • Director: Bernard Giraudeau
  • Script: Bernard Giraudeau
  • Photo: Jean-Marie Dreujou
  • Music: René-Marc Bini
  • Cast: Bernard Giraudeau (Jean-François de La Plaine), Richard Bohringer (Blanet), Thierry Frémont (Pierre Combaud), Roland Blanche (M. Denis), Raoul Billerey (Abbé Fleuriau), Aissatou Sow (Amélie), France Zobda (Anne Brisseau), Olivier Achard (M. de Kermadec), Moussa Touré (Hannibal), Anna Galiena (Louise), Pierre Arditi (Henri de Breuil), Jean-Claude Brialy (M. de Saint-Chamont), Marie Dubois (La vieille duchesse), Lambert Wilson (M. de la Malène), Brigitte Roüan (Esther)
  • Country: France
  • Language: French
  • Runtime: 111 min
  • Aka: Unpredictable Nature of the River
 
 
 
Summary
In 1786, after a duel, a French noble, Jean-François de la Plaine, is exiled to a French colony in West Africa.  There, as governor, he presides over a thriving slave trade.  He takes an African woman as his lover and adopts a young local girl, Amélie.  His view of the world is irreversibly altered by what he sees and experiences.

Review
Acclaimed French actor Bernard Giraudeau followed his promising directorial debut (L’Autre ) with this lavish period piece, filmed largely on location in Africa.  The sumptuous cinematography just about makes up for the film’s languid pace, although the threadbare narrative and weak characterisation do make the film feel painfully long and empty.  Despite its faults, the film allows Giraudeau, a man noted for his humanism, to make some worthwhile statements about the human condition.  Characteristically, the film's rather poignant ending offers a gentle plea for multi-racial co-existence.

© James Travers 2004


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