Monsieur Batignole

In 1942, in an occupied Paris, the apolitical grocer Edmond Batignole (Gérard Jugnot) lives with his wife and daughter in a small apartment in the building of his grocery. When his future son-in-law and collaborator of the German Pierre-Jean Lamour (Jean-Paul Rouve) calls the Nazis to arrest the Jewish Bernstein family, they move to the confiscated apartment. Some days later, the young Simon Bernstein (Jules Sitruk) escapes from the Germans and comes to his former home. When Batignole finds him, he feels sorry for the boy and lodges him, hiding Simon from Pierre-Jean and also from his wife. Later, two cousins of Simon meet him in the cellar of the grocery. When Pierre-Jean finds the children, Batignole decides to travel with the children to Switzerland.

What a delightful movie this "Monsieur Batignole" is! The story is realistic, balancing dramatic situations with some funny scenes, like, for example, when Batignole is called in the train station to help a German soldier with a twisted knee. Another interesting and quite original aspect is the unusual number of French collaborators, since it is very difficult to see a movie that recognizes that they did exist in times of war. Further, Monsieur Batignole is not the usual hero, but a man driven by the reality to have a heroic action instead. The boy Jules Sitruk steals the movie with his attitudes, and Gérard Jugnot and Jean-Paul Rouve are fantastic. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Herói Por Acaso" ("Hero by Chance")

Both an entertaining and a sincere movie. Jules Sitruk definitely did a very good job in here. The story had indeed some emotional involvements and was above the average. I liked the way Gerard Jugnot and Jules interacted with each other. Sometimes it was a bit oversubscribed and unrealistic - I'm thinking of the gorgeous sequence with the German soldier who had his knee dislocated - but nonetheless it didn't minimize the movie's natural charm. The historical background adds a significant amount of authenticity to the whole plot and grants the movie additional quality. Solid acting, entertaining experience. Recommended.

The great strength of: Monsieur Batignole, already resides in a careful and readable production, moreover it benefits from wonderful interpretations, qualified as fair and remarkable by its actors including and especially: Gérard Jugnot (marvelous of emotion and truth) and Jean-Paul Rouve (César for best male hope in 2003). The other actors in the movie were also exemplary. This movie is also a fiction, it is incredibly good, a suspense will reign as well as splendid scenes of tenderness which will delight your heart, without the realization exaggerating in any way on certain scenes which are real jewels. A Magnificent movie.

Probably the best film I have seen so far this year. We recently screened it for our Film Festival Selection Committee and the response was near-unanimous - four stars. The previous commenter's accusations of "terminal cuteness" baffle me - this is the best good-old-fashioned solid three-act structure Hollywood movie I have seen in a long time - and it was made in France. The distributor claims that they cannot find an American distributor who will meet their terms - therefore, there are no plans for American release. If you can find it playing at your local Jewish Film Festival (about the only place you are likely to find it in the US - a shame, really, since it is not a film only for Jews)by all means buy your ticket and go.

This movie suffers from terminal cuteness.. Even treating such a horrible subject, Gérard Jugnot does what he's been doing for over 20 years : playing and directing average french citizens facing not so ordinary situations(of unemployment in Une epoque formidable, of the sects in Fallait Pas, of being a father of a famous actress in Meilleur espoir Féminin...etc.,etc.). Treating in a comic way a serious subject.

This flick is plain silly...a long road to clichéness with an ability to open doors that have already been opened 50 years ago. The germans are bad, sex-crazed people.Deportation is horrible. Every french citizen was pro-german during the war and pro-De Gaulle in 1945. Daaah? The best part is when he's taking the 3 jewish children nearby the swiss border. The french people living there are supposed to have a strong accent (as the kids). But all the adults don't. It is simply both stupid and hilarious (but unintentionally, of course).

Because it wants to tell us about a tragic event and deliver a message of hope we're supposed to love the movie? Nah. It just falls flat on every level : ludicrous dialogues, comedy, drama, war, suspense (ooooohhhh, are the poor children going the get caught by the nasty nazi??? Nah.)...everything is over-demonstrative and SO predictable. This tearjerker is a huge success in France where most of the official critics just love that sense of cuteness. It is beyond redemption, really. This movie deserves a slap in the face to wake it up a bit...but no...terminal cuteness indeed.

And not even an accurate use of the Scope A.R to higher the note a bit. Pfff.

Superwonderscope says : 1