Au revoir là-haut

November 1919. Two survivors of the trenches meet. One, Edouard Péricourt, the son of a good family disfigured during the conflict, is a genius draftsman, the other, Albert Maillard, is a modest accountant. They join forces to set up a war memorial scam. Albert Dupontel became known for his crazy and squeaky comedies, not to everyone's taste. Voluntarily poorly made at the beginning, his biting comedies gradually gained in artistic quality. For example, the film "Neuf mois ferme", which preceded this one, was already distinguished by its elaborate direction and impressive formal finds, which only made the satirical background more abrasive. He does even better with "Au revoir là-haut", a very successful adaptation of Pierre Lemaître's best-selling novel. A dazzling opening sequence, brilliant craftsmanship, a convincing period reconstruction, and high-quality special effects: Albert Dupontel brilliantly confirms that he has become a major filmmaker. What'is great is that being at the helm of a superproduction does mean he renounces his convictions: in this film co-written with Pierre Lemaître, as in others of which he is the sole author, he questions conformism, hypocrisy and authoritarianism while praising, as a good self-respecting anarchist, personal morality and the responsible individual's recourse to his own resources. Dupontel's main target is the self-righteousness of the time (the grandiloquent whining about the dead of 14-18, whose massacre is made up under the more presentable names of heroism and sacrifice) end the least we can say is that he bites home. Through his "sacrilegious heroes," he asks a question to which everyone will answer in their own way: who is more guilty, the two crooks, a gifted artist with a broken face and a crafty entrepreneur forsaken by the authorities, or those who turned hundreds of thousands of young people full of life into cannon fodder? The cast is excellent and without wanting to insult the spirit of the troupe shown by all the actors, we will nevertheless singularize two performances particularly out of the ordinary: Niels Arestrup as a dominating and icy father and Laurent Lafitte, properly terrifying as a sadistic military man who, after the war, turns into a... sadistic civilian. A deserved success, both public and critical, for Albert Dupontel, who has now entered the big league.

I wish I could give it 50 STARS. In my over 70 years of watching movies, this is probably the best of tens of thousands. The sheer enjoyment I felt watching propelled me to buy the book; the book is in a superb English translation and just marvelous.

I didn't expect to like this movie, for reasons I can't explain even to myself. But I did. Dupontel, both in front and behind the camera, does his thing, and it's truly remarkable. For those unfamiliar with his work, I invite to watch some. The guy exists in his own world and does his own thing. And it works. It often makes you feel uncomfortable, probably because it's stirring emotions under the surface. This movie is visually stunning, the costumes, the era, the music, all this without being too long. Really well executed. And the story itself, the emotions, loss, mourning, injustice, revenge, hatred, love. Again, remarkable. A good example of what cinema should be, yet rarely is. If it matters, I'm French.

A magnificent story bathed in the poetry of extraordinary sets and costumes.

In addition to a host of brilliant actors, the subject evoked (the smashed faces) is rarely recounted in the cinema.

Albert Dupontel has created a masterpiece.

Albert Dupontel has directed a cinematic masterpiece, always visual (enjoy the long shots), always surprising details (sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes poetic), lot of cinema references (Jeunet, Welles, Leone, Kubrick, Franju, ...). All characters are important, and the script is suspenseful in their interaction. My two favorite characters are of course Edouard Péricourt and Pradelle (fantastic Laurent Lafitte, he makes me think of John Hodiak). Enjoy.