Der Husar auf dem Dach

Two superstars of the french cinema: adorable Juliette Binoche and hot Olivier Martinez, love and save each other from lost, sickness and death, while horse-riding through the stunningly beautiful Provence. An adaptation of the famous novel by Jean Giono. They are there: on the screen, on their horses, in this magnificent landscape, he tries to become a man, she tries to stay a woman, they are smiling, and soon you'll express the wish of being with them on this screen, to be one of them, maybe both, if this happens, Rappeneau gets to his goal: grace. A great tale about love, renouncement, youth, passion, courage and Honor. A famous novel of the french literature. Patriotism, romanticism, and grace. Rappeneau is the master, Binoche and Martinez are the gifted pupils.

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.

This is a 19th century story that is strongly reminiscent of a "knight in shining armor" story of long, long ago. The handsome hero is both committed to his cause of freeing Italy from Austrian rule AND protecting his lady from all harm--even when she stupidly blunders into it on a couple occasions. From start to finish, this is an excellent historical "chick flick" and is likely to excite the passions of many female viewers, but I am a guy (at least the last time I checked) and I STILL enjoyed it. The acting was excellent and the cinematography outstanding. About the only minor problem with the film was the occasional stupid behaviors by the female lead (Binoche). A couple times, she just seemed too stupid to live--but, of course, the handsome hero came to her rescue.

An excellent film, but a little disturbing due to its graphic depiction of plague victims. Plus, with a little nudity towards the end of the film (it was explicit but not gratuitous), this is NOT a film for the kids.

The Horseman on the Roof has to be one of the most beautiful looking films I've ever seen, which is odd for a movie about a cholera epidemic.

Set in a beautiful summer in the mid-19th century, it follows Olivier Martinez's Italian in exile as he is chased across France by Austrian agents intent on killing as many Italian rebels as they can only for his pursuers to be outrun by a cholera epidemic that picks off friends and foes. Along the way his path crosses with various victims and survivors - a doctor who teaches him a neat disinfecting trick of setting your hands on fire, a cute governess, Jean Yanne's duplicitous peddler, Gerard Depardieu's paranoid mayor, and most importantly Juliette Binoche, who is determined to find her husband. Naturally they become travelling companions as they try to get through roadblocks and avoid being put into quarantine by the soldiers cordoning off the roads - a virtual death sentence - and eventually nearly become more. The film looks so good in cinemascope and so much of it is terrific than you can just about forgive the fact that the ending is a bit of a washout after everything that's gone before.

A really enjoyable old-fashioned epic, I'd definitely pick this up if it ever turned up on DVD uncut with English subtitles (the Miramax disc is typically cut by 17 minutes thanks to Harvey Scissorhands).

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.