Der Husar auf dem Dach

This gorgeous movie was set in the cholera stricken period which wiped out the whole of Europe in 10 days. Juliette Binoche, in her pre-The English Patient role, was as gorgeous and subtle as ever. The thing about this movie though that it's billed as a romance but you don't see it anywhere but just hints of it and feel the sexual tensions between the 2 main characters. Rather disappointing for some but it's that exact same formula which makes it such a beautiful movie to watch. To top it off, it was filmed in the French countryside which is so breathtaking that you could just watch the movie for the cinematography alone. All in all, it's a superb movie in the tradition of finely crafted French costume dramas.

Le Hussard sur le Toit presents its audience with the grim reality of cholera-stricken rural France in 1832 and its effect on a journey of escape by two anxious visitors. The frequent images of corpses and mass burial are refreshed by the breathtaking and beautifully shot scenery, itself brought to life by characters who dilute the presence of death with an oxymoronic mix of comedy and despair. Carrion crows regularly appear, mercilessly flying around in sinister anticipation, their cawing beaks wide open with hunger.

Juliette Binoche enters only in the second half, her laconic period style beautifully portrayed, and preparing the way for her appearance as George Sand in Les Enfants du Siecle (1999). Le Hussard's plot is simple, its screenplay uncomplicated. But the action is fast and Bond-like and the innocence of Martinez' military-dominated character is uncanny. But it is its simplicity that makes this movie a work of exceptional visual satisfaction, for romantics or action-lovers alike.

Provence provides a stunning locale for this romantic adventure. The camera work is exquisite and every opportunity is taken to capture the natural beauty of this region. The story is simple enough. Angelo, an Italian colonel (handsome Olivier Martinez) escapes from Austrian-oppressed Italy to raise funds in the continuing battle against Austria. He finds more than an unsympathetic acceptance in France. Most of the towns through which he rides are beset with cholera. The camera scenes of the dead and dying victims, horse-drawn carts packed high with bodies and funeral pyres are terrifying enough, but it is the fluttering of black wings as crows seek out the eyes of the dying victims that frighten most. Some of the close-ups are pretty grim. In lighter vein I liked the scene where a cat befriends our horseman and he talks to it on the roof about how wars are won with money as much as guns. The cat is a great little actor. The horseman an accomplished swordsman carves his way through many a desperate situation (What hero doesn't?) He acquires a bottle of medicine from a dying stranger who has taught him a massage technique to avert death from cholera. On his way back to Italy with a bag of gold coins, he gives protection to Pauline, a doctor's wife (Juliette Binoche)who is seeking out her missing husband in the cholera-infected area. The young 25-year old colonel who sends almost daily letters to his mother in Italy (they are really a diary of events) behaves as the perfect gentleman at all times, but his protegee is obviously drawn to him. Here is a love story where the lovers admire from a distance never submitting to the chemistry which is drawing them together. When the woman collapses with cholera, all existing barriers are forgotten as he works on her frantically with his acquired knowledge to save her life. One of the great joys of this film is to watch the handsome faces of Martinez and Binoche. Their beauty contrasts sharply with the agonised plight of the villagers and the devilish black crows which hover continuously about the dead, fluttering out through open doors and windows. The ending may not satisfy some, but it leaves us with the thought that somewhere sometime all will be well again.

Juliette Binoche and Olivier Martinez look great, and they throw themselves enthusiastically into their roles. They do have a certain chemistry together, but the film devotes much more attention to the effects of the French cholera epidemic in 1832 on the countryside. The plot that kicks off the story rather dramatically is that of the assassination plots against Italian nationalists by Austrians who'd like to take over northern Italy. The end of the movie, however, reveals the true focus of the story. I wish that the majority of the movie was devoted to that story.

It takes quite an amazing group of people to make a great epic. Aside from great source material, really all the components have to be superb, and it has to be put together in such a way that the viewer is not left wondering what happened to a decade (see: Queen Margot).

Most of the necessary pieces are here, but there is something missing, some element that keeps it from being a truly great film. It is certainly a good one, a movie that is worth seeing, and worth doing so on a big screen, thanks to its beautiful scenery between France and Italy. The stars are very watchable, and the story is tight enough to keep your attention throughout. Unlike many films of its genre, it is not overlong.

Ironically, I found myself comparing it to another Binoche epic, The English Patient, which made me wonder what was lacking in light of what I consider to be a finer film. In the end, it may be simply that the latter had a novel that was more compelling, or a lead (Fiennes) that was just more riveting.

The story is of two people fleeing the outbreak of cholera in early 19th century France. Angelo is attempting to return to his native Italy, to join the revolution, and Pauline is searching for something... They manage to aid each other's flight.

In the great tradition of French period epics, this is not the pinnacle, but it is near the upper echelon. It's worth a shot.