La vingt-cinquième heure

The naive Catholic Romanian peasant Johann Moritz (Anthony Quinn) is happily married with the gorgeous Suzanna Moritz (Virna Lisi). The local sergeant Dobresco (Grégoire Aslan) is a wolf and lusts Suzanna that rejects him. So he includes the name of Johann in the list of Jewishes in the village and he is sent to a forced labor camp for Jewish. Johann explains to the commander that he is not Jewish while Suzanna unsuccessfully seeks out authorities trying to fix the mistake, but she is forced to divorce from Johann to keep their house. Johann finally accepts to join a group of Jews to escape from the camp to Bulgary. However he is captured again and sent to a concentration camp. However, the SS commander believes there is a mistake since he has the profile of the perfect Arian and Johann joins the SS. After the end of the war, he is sent to a prisoner camp and judged in Nuremberg when he finally knows the fate of Suzanna.

"La vingt-cinquième heure", a.k.a. "The 25th Hour", is a great movie with a heartbreaking story of wickedness, naivety and injustice in World War II. This movie forces the viewer to understand the chaotic condition of Europe after this war in every aspect. Anthony Quinn has a wonderful performance and Virna Lisi is perfectly cast in the role of a beautiful peasant. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A 25ª Hora" ("The 25th Hour")

living in Romania, i was almost stunned by the very realistic setting for the scenes and the great care paid to local details by the director. The performance of Anthony Queen is absolutely great, and the rest of the cast does a great job supporting him. The movie does take a little knowledge of the east European context in order to be fully enjoyed, but it remains otherwise a great performance with some memorable lines. the ending is maybe a bit too melodramatic, but that's actually the way people are in this part of the world I believe the screenplay is great, because it presents the horrors of the 2nd WW in a most original manner - no blood, no battlefields. Still, lives are shattered, and the smiles you get every now and then throughout the movie are quickly killed by the war realities touching the characters.

I caught up with this movie on TV after 30 years or more. Several aspects of the film stood out even when viewing it so many years after it was made.

The story by the little known C Virgil Georghiu is remarkable, almost resembling a Tolstoy-like story of a man buffeted by a cosmic scheme that he cannot comprehend. Compare this film with better-known contemporary works such as Spelberg's "Schindler's List" and you begin to realize the trauma of the World War II should be seen against the larger canvas of racism beyond the simplistic Nazi notion of Aryan vs Jews. This film touches on the Hungarians dislike for the Romanians, the Romanians dislike of the Russians and so on..even touching on the Jews' questionable relationships with their Christian Romanian friends, while under stress.

As I have not read the book, it is difficult to see how much has been changed by the director and screenplay writers. For instance, it is interesting to study the Romanian peasant's view of emigrating to USA with the view of making money only to return to Romania and invest his earnings there.

In my opinion, the character of Johann Moritz was probably one of the finest roles played by Anthony Quinn ranking alongside his work in "La Strada","Zorba the Greek" and "Barabbas".

The finest and most memorable sequence in the film is the final one with Anthony Quinn and Virna Lisi trying to smile. The father carrying a daughter born out his wife's rape by Russians is a story in itself but the director is able to show the reconciliation by a simple gesture--the act of carrying the child without slipping into melodramatic footage.

Today after the death of Princess Diana we often remark about the insensitive paparazzi. The final sequence is an indictment of the paparazzi and the insensitive media (director Verneuil also makes a similar comment during the court scene as the cameramen get ready to pounce on Moritz).

The interaction between Church and State was so beautifully summed up in the orthodox priest's laconic statement "I pray to God that He guides those who have power to use them well."

Some of the brief shots, such as those of a secretary of a minister doodling while listening to a petition--said so much in so little footage. The direction was so impressive that the editing takes a back seat.

Finally what struck me most was the exquisite rich texture of colors provided by the cameraman Andreas Winding--from the brilliant credit sequences to the end. I recalled that he was the cameraman of another favorite French film of mine called "Ramparts of Clay" directed by Jean-Louis Bertucelli. I have not seen such use of colors in a long while save for the David Lean epics.

There were flaws: I wish Virna Lisi's character was more fleshed out. I could never quite understand the Serge Reggiani character--the only intellectual in the entire film. The railroad station scene at the end seems to be lifted out of Sergio Leone westerns. Finally, the film was essentially built around a love story, that unfortunately takes a back seat.

To sum up this film impressed me in more departments than one. The story is relevant today as it was when it was made.

There are many, many older movies that deserve to be transferred to the DVD format. This is surely one of them. An Anthony Quinn triumph! Scores of movies portray the victims of Nazi atrocities before and during the war, but, I don't think any of them have delved into the psyche of the victim and predator as well as this this one has. Anthony Quinn was truly a man for all seasons. He had the ability to portray the humblest of creatures devoid of any human vises to a creature of extreme animalism and pull it off as believable to the audiences who watched with no afterthought of what they had just witnessed! Truly one of our greatest artists. He is missed.

I saw this film a number of years ago, but I still think of it now and then. I think that Anthony Quinn does a superb portrayal of a man caught up in series of coincidences beyond his control. He is a simple man, not a dolt, as some reviewers have opined. It is a story that could have happened to a number of people during that time. How many of us would have had completely altered lives if just one single event in our past had turned out differently? I would love to see the film again to see if I still thought that it is a terrific movie.