Le combat dans l'île (1962)
(Fire and Ice)
Country: FR
Technical: bw 104m
Director: Alain Cavalier
Cast: Romy Schneider, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Henri Serre, Diane Lepvrier
Synopsis:
A former actress married to a right-wing militant must choose between her husband's increasingly immoral activities and the progressive politics of his childhood friend, on whom they call for sanctuary.
Review:
Superficially similar to Godard's Le Petit Soldat in that it acknowledges the presence in France of reactionary political movements, Cavalier/Rappeneau's film also recalls Jules et Jim, in the casting of Serre with another German actor, in its triangular setup, in its voiceover narration (by Jean Topart), and in some of its settings. Leaving aside such incidentals, and certain budgetary constraints, it is a fitting French debut for Schneider, one in which she must respond to conflicting emotional impulses, with the heart invariably winning out over the head, a character she played again and again. Trintignant's rigidly traditional manners, possessiveness and racism are seen to be hallmarks of the extreme right, a cast which fits him like a glove and prefigures his role in The Conformist. Overall the film, while uneven in tone, carries with it the freshness of the Nouvelle Vague, which is a good thing.
(Fire and Ice)
Country: FR
Technical: bw 104m
Director: Alain Cavalier
Cast: Romy Schneider, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Henri Serre, Diane Lepvrier
Synopsis:
A former actress married to a right-wing militant must choose between her husband's increasingly immoral activities and the progressive politics of his childhood friend, on whom they call for sanctuary.
Review:
Superficially similar to Godard's Le Petit Soldat in that it acknowledges the presence in France of reactionary political movements, Cavalier/Rappeneau's film also recalls Jules et Jim, in the casting of Serre with another German actor, in its triangular setup, in its voiceover narration (by Jean Topart), and in some of its settings. Leaving aside such incidentals, and certain budgetary constraints, it is a fitting French debut for Schneider, one in which she must respond to conflicting emotional impulses, with the heart invariably winning out over the head, a character she played again and again. Trintignant's rigidly traditional manners, possessiveness and racism are seen to be hallmarks of the extreme right, a cast which fits him like a glove and prefigures his role in The Conformist. Overall the film, while uneven in tone, carries with it the freshness of the Nouvelle Vague, which is a good thing.
(Fire and Ice)
Country: FR
Technical: bw 104m
Director: Alain Cavalier
Cast: Romy Schneider, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Henri Serre, Diane Lepvrier
Synopsis:
A former actress married to a right-wing militant must choose between her husband's increasingly immoral activities and the progressive politics of his childhood friend, on whom they call for sanctuary.
Review:
Superficially similar to Godard's Le Petit Soldat in that it acknowledges the presence in France of reactionary political movements, Cavalier/Rappeneau's film also recalls Jules et Jim, in the casting of Serre with another German actor, in its triangular setup, in its voiceover narration (by Jean Topart), and in some of its settings. Leaving aside such incidentals, and certain budgetary constraints, it is a fitting French debut for Schneider, one in which she must respond to conflicting emotional impulses, with the heart invariably winning out over the head, a character she played again and again. Trintignant's rigidly traditional manners, possessiveness and racism are seen to be hallmarks of the extreme right, a cast which fits him like a glove and prefigures his role in The Conformist. Overall the film, while uneven in tone, carries with it the freshness of the Nouvelle Vague, which is a good thing.