La Vie de Chateau
The opening credits here are groovy but misleading: a series of Richard Avedon-like photographs of Catherine Deneuve looking mid-'60s cool (complete with swinging Michel Legrand music). Actually,La Vie de Chateauis set just before D-day, 1944, on a large estate near the landing beaches. The divine Deneuve is a bored wife, whose wealthy husband (the great Philippe Noiret) wants the quiet country life. Arriving on the scene are a dashing Resistance fighter (Henri Garcin), scouting the area, and a German officer--and both swoon over the blond mistress of the chateau. Director Jean-Paul Rappeneau, best known for hisCyrano de Bergeracwith Gerard Depardieu, displays a kicky style that might seem inappropriate for the subject, but the film is a complete delight: full of unexpected sight gags and New Wavey spirit. The D-day climax is both uproarious and redemptive. This film needs to be better known outside France.--Robert Horton