La chambre verte

Green Room, The (1978)

** (out of 4)

Truffaut plays a journalist still grieving the death of his wife nearly ten years after her passing. Her passing helped his obsession of death, which ends up making him a friend in an equally strange woman (Nathalie Baye) who also has her own interesting thoughts on the subject. As his obsession grows deeper, the man decides to buy a chapel and turn it into a sanctuary for his wife and other dead friends. This is an extremely bizarre film from Truffaut and while I'm still new to his work, this here is certainly the least entertaining of his films that I've seen. I think the entire film is just one real big mess that never really makes sense of what it's trying to do. I couldn't help but feel a tad bit lost as the movie never really seems clear as to what it's trying to say about death as both characters are pulling in opposite directions. I found their relationship to be extremely forced and completely make belief as not for a single second did I feel either one could care for the other. Another minor issue was the performance by Baye, which I thought was rather weak. The problem with this is that Truffaut was pretty good and the two just don't work very well together and in the end it hurts the film because not only does their relationship feel weak but it doesn't help that the actor is so many better than the partner. I'd be lying if I said I hated this movie because I really didn't. There just wasn't anything here that kept me overly entertained and in the end I was just too bored by the characters and screenplay.

"La chambre verte" is one of the most strange, if not the strangest work of Truffaut. An adaptation of the novel "The beast and the jungle" by Henry James, it deals with one of the most uncomfortable topics for a film; death. Or, actually, what happens to those that are left alive, when a person from their intimate environment dies.

Julien Davenne, the hero (played by Truffaut himself), is obsessed with death, since the loss of his dear wife, Julie. While everyone tells him to forget her, and move on, he finds it disrespectful to her memory to do so. Instead, he decides to build a chapel, where he will honour his "dead". People he had once known, family, friends that perished in the war. There is even a photo of an unknown German soldier, whom Davenne had killed during the fightings of World War One. To Davenne, death makes no discriminations, he takes everyone, and it's the duty of the living to remember the dead, otherwise, they'll be forgotten.

Having no one as family, except for a child, unable to speak, communicating with him only with signs, and his caretaker, an old lady, Davenne shares his opinions and worries with a young woman (Nathalie Baye). She is shocked by what she hears, at first, but later comes to understand the motives behind Davenne's way of thinking.

Which are those motives? In my opinion, Truffaut tried to present with this film a portrait of the French Lost Generation. Those, who would have been young enough to go fight in World War One. Few of them returned, since France had some of the highest casualties in that war. The war to end all wars. It didn't end them, but it ended relationships, friendships, families. In the film, Davenne laments that his now deceased wife waited for his return from the front for four years. Unfortunately, she didn't get to enjoy their being together for long. Death got her first.

After the First World War, the world was shocked by the disaster, and the death the conflict had brought. And, so, art became obsessed with death. The artists of this Lost Generation rejected the conservatism of their predecessors, it being an element of a pre-war era of carelessness. In their works, they portrayed the death of those seen in the front, or other topics, in an abstract manner. In that way, they wanted to show the madness of war.

What does all this have to do with the film? Davenne is also a member of this generation. One of the lucky ones, that didn't die. But, for him, Julie's loss is kind of a spiritual death. He is as fixated with the concept of death as those artists. Through his chapel,first located in the titular green room in his house, he makes his own attempt at dealing with this stream of deaths the war brought. For him, everyone death deserves to be remembered. But, for a society wanting to move on, this behaviour is abnormal. Why would one want to remain in the past, in a past so traumatic? Truffaut gave his answer through the film.

History, as saddening as this is, would justify Davenne. Because, for all the fun and prosperity that France and the world experienced in the Roaring twenties - in France, tellingly known as "Les années folles" , the crazy years- the next decade's end would bring with it the most catastrophic war human history has ever witnessed. And, then, no one could escape thinking about death. It would simply be everywhere.

Julien Davenne has suffered trauma, it still haunts him, he's perpetually a mourner, after losing his wife Julie, he still loves her oh so truly, leaves him trapped inside a tomb, can't turn the corner. Cecilia attempts to make a bond, there's connection, and slowly he does respond, after fire burns his tribute, to his perpetual love salute, she becomes someone, of which he is quite fond - but not for long.

It's not the most riveting period drama you've ever come across although, like The Story of Adele H, it shows how people with serious mental illness behaved when there was little or no support, or indeed appreciation for, in this case, PTSD. Nathalie Baye is gorgeous and elegant, and as such, shows just how much Julien Davenne has lost his marbles, but at least she gets to light his candle.

I totally disagree with Maltin. Truffaut's The Green Room was destined not to be a crowd pleaser: unlike his most famous films celebrating life (Jules and Jim being the most obvious example) the film is serious in tone and deals with death, Truffaut himself playing the death-obsessed newspaperman.

The Green Room is nonetheless a very impressive film; the questions of the forms of love, life versus death, possession and the remembrance of those who have passed away are treated both intellectually (but not in an 'artsy' or artificial way) and emotionally (but not in a melodramatic way despite an interwoven love story).

The film is surprisingly short and the ending comes even a bit abruptly, so contrary to possible expectations it is not long and dull. The Green Room reminded me of The Magnificent Ambersons and (John Huston's) The Dead, which are also films to be recommended.

I was very impressed, when I watched this movie for the first time. I only knew Truffaut's most popular films (like Jules et Jim or Fahrenheit 451) by then. This film is so completely different than the ones mentioned above. I think Truffaut shows us his inner-self by playing the role of Julien Davenne, a journalist obsessed with the idea of building an altar for his dead. The audience gets a direct access to his feelings and thoughts about life and death. This film is a chance to understand Truffaut and his work better. He knew that the film would not be a box-office hit, but that was not important to Truffaut. He liked the short-stories by Henry James and just did what he wanted to. In my opinion Truffaut did a beautiful job by making this film. I think this film demands very much from its viewers. "The Green Room" provokes a self-reflection in the viewer. The viewer has to deal with his own attitude towards life and death. So this is not an easy film to watch. But if you want a film that differs from all the high-tech, action-loaded movies of the present that simultaneously gives you a very personal access to the man who made it, "The Green Room" is a good choice.