Lucie Aubrac

It's always problematical when a given actor/actress is replaced during filming for whatever reason. Personally I thought Ray Walston was fantastic in 'Kiss Me, Stupid' and can't visualize Peter Sellars even equalling Walston's performance, let alone eclipsing it. So it is here. One commentator bizarrely described Juliet Binoche as the best actress in France. I have every admiration for Binoche and see as many of her films as possible but has the commentator in question never heard of Isabelle Huppert, Nathalie Baye, Suzanne Flon, Sandrine Kiberlain, Manu Beart, etc. Nevertheless this is still a great movie and I for one cannot imagine anyone other than Carole Bouquet as the eponymous heroine. Were this fiction it may be thought a tad over the romantic top to have two lovers celebrate the date they first made love and take a vow to be together on that particular anniversary for as long as they live, but, as we know, this is a True story and BOTH lovers, Auteuil and Bouquet make it believable. There is a certain symmetry here too if anybody asks you. Having established under the credits an active Resistance group in which Auteuil (as Francois Samuel, 'Aubrac' was the Resistance name of the husband and wife team)is prominent we then see him at home in a tender scene with his wife (Bouquet) which establishes the secondary (or primary, depending on your point of view) theme of enduring love, and then, to put things in perspective, we see Lucie in her day job of schoolteacher, spelling out to les enfants the value of history as a learning tool and reminding them that even as they speak they are themselves living history. We are then into a somewhat conventional Resistance story. Brave freedom fighters captured and tortured, one woman's love overcoming the might of the occupying forces. It is interesting that Berri has opted to show Lyon as a sun-filled city - perhaps a hangover from his Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources gig a dozen years earlier - and this not only makes a contrast from the usual bleak, overcast, settings of other Resistance movies, but also points up the horror/barbarism occurring behind closed shutters while the sun pours down on France's Second City. Of course any film on the Resistance has to compete with 'L'Armee des Ombres' and, to a lesser extent, 'Laissez Passer' and if Lucie doesn't quite make it she makes a very creditable and honorable attempt. 8/10

I love french movies what can I say. This one is really good as well. Interesting story I'd never really thought about. I was worried it would be old and bad you know like many period films are but this one is pretty well done. The acting is up to scratch and especially moments when the captives are in the prison and they really are feeling the pain and torture and still managing to resist the urge to stop it. Very few weaknesses as well. Lucie is really beautiful as well a pleasure to watch. Very desparate film which is well resolved. Overall worth a watch. I gave it 8.

Engaging story and performances involving members of the French resistance during World War II. Although I have not yet read the account on which it is based, I have no reason to believe the film takes too many liberties with the truth. The locations and sets seem very authentic, and the dialogue is evocative of the way people spoke at the time. Something exceptional is presented by way of action sequences, in fact, where attempts at re-enacting simple events on film often fail; namely, the interdiction of a convoy carrying prisoners and a particularly realistic execution scene. High marks are due the production crew for this one. The overall history of the French resistance is an extremely complicated tale to be retold for purposes of explaining just how this story resonates. Young viewers need to educate themselves in that history in order to appreciate fully this film's merits.

Lucy Aubrac (Carole Bouquet) is a woman in love with her husband Raymond (Daniel Auteuil). He is an important member of the French resistance and arrested with his friends in a meeting after being betrayed. Lucy will try to rescue him from the Gestapo prison using all the possible ways. A beautiful romance in the Second World War, based on a true story. A correct direction and good performances of the cast make this movie a worthwhile entertainment. My vote is seven.

This film is an excellent tribute to the bravery of the men and women of the French Resistance during the Second World War. The film revolves around Lucie and her attempts to rescue her husband, after he is arrested by the Gestapo at a Resistance meeting. This film is indeed a testimony to Lucie and Raymond's relationship, but in my mind, the film serves equally as an insight into France during the occupation and the political state at the time. An excellent film. - Jonno