In November 1918, a few days before the Armistice, when Lieutenant Pradelle orders a senseless attack, he causes a useless disaster; but his outrageous act also binds the lives of two soldiers who have nothing more in common than the battlefield: Édouard saves Albert, although at a high cost. They become companions in misfortune who will attempt to survive in a changing world. Pradelle, in his own way, does the same.
An extremely stylish film showing remarkable cinematographic creativity and vision, even if the story does not truly measure up to the visuals.
8/10
**How a Film is Made**
Here is a film crafted with pure talent, overflowing creativity, an exceptional cast, and dazzling camera work.
The director—who also stars in it and wrote the screenplay, adapting a novel—Albert Dupontel has the virtue of telling us, in a comedic tone (sometimes employing dark humor), the drama of the war's forgotten, the "cannon fodder" of armies who are neglected and abandoned by officers, the healthcare system, governments, and a whole network of scoundrels who profit from the postwar. Fortunately, neither the synopsis nor the trailer reveals or suggests anything about the plot, which is very, very original. I believe this film should be seen with the least possible plot information, because the novel by Pierre Lemaitre has been transferred to the screenplay with great ingenuity, and any development of the plot in a review would diminish the magic the story possesses. Let's say, broadly speaking, there is a sequential thread of characters who do not appear in vain from the beginning and who later fit into a virtuous circle, making the ending a brilliantly resolved mechanism for the film to conclude as it began. Perhaps the screenplay can be criticized for its psychologically abrupt definitions (the bad guys are extremely bad, the good guys are victims) and for its somewhat implausible coincidences, but if you engage with the mirror game the director proposes, you can likely overlook this Manichaeism and be fascinated by the offering.
As a co-star, the Argentine Nahuel Pérez Bizcayart delivers a dazzling performance using only his eyes and hands, as he is almost always under some kind of mask. The special effects are frankly magnificent and serve a camera in permanent, dizzying crane shots that rise and fall to show us mass scenes (the 3 sequence shots at the beginning are anthological), allowing for a reconstruction of the era that would be impossible to achieve without using superimpositions.
The cinematography and music captivate you, and as if that were not enough, it has one of the most emotional endings I will remember forever. A true feast for the senses, a work that will move your spirit and feelings, and which I warmly recommend.
