Unusual, curious enterprise...

Rating: 7/10 (1 October 2005)

Occasionally very strange, subtitled French film about two soldiers--POW's during WWII--plotting to escape extravagant German fortress run by a strangely polite and benign official. Not your typical war movie; the film plays out like a tall tale, a legend. Leads Jean Gabin and Pierre Fresnay are very good, and the lightly-spirited, often humorous picture still looks good today. There's a nice romance between handsome soldier Gabin (who reminds me of a young Kenneth Branagh) and a farm widow, and director Jean Renoir gets a nice balance of moods on film, even if the opening is a bit obtuse and the characters and narrative are initially perplexing. Eventually it is intriguing and ultimately satisfying. *** from ****