"Le Colonel Durand" is an unfairly overlooked melodrama , which takes place in the First Empire days, to be precise in 1805-1806 when everybody thought peace would come but it was short-lived ; A war with Prussia was around the corner .
Before the Revolution, only the nobles (these who fight) could become officers; but many aristocrats had fled and Napoleon had to create another aristocracy ;many commoners became officers ,such is the case of the hero whose parents were from a modest background ; Napoleon 's officers were young dashing men , often in their thirties (Durand is 32 and a colonel!) and even in their twenties ;some were conferred a title of nobility to create a new court .
Durand is a cynical womanizer ; the role was tailor made for Paul Meurisse , the nasty headmaster of "les diaboliques" ;under the pretext of helping a young man to avow his love , he seduces and compromises the bashful lover's flame.
But when he falls in love for good with Isabelle, the gorgeous lady refuses to give herself to him and suggests they remain good friends; when she finally accepts to be his lover , war with Prussians breaks out:shall he desert and join her in her country home? Or shall he do his duty ,as his brother in arms (the excellent Louis Arbessier,de la comédie française)Millot urges him to do : this good friend will give him an unusual proof of his heartfelt camaraderie.
This strong melodrama depicts the Empire days with elegance : the barracks where the officers talk about women and war : some go as far as to say that victory is safe with such a leader ,but that it will mean death and destruction; the salons where they meet ladies who play the harp , flirt and laugh at the prudish ones ; a duel in a room where they have blown out the candles .
Although pure fiction , the lines tend to make the viewer believe it is a true story ; it's based on a novel, but as Napoleon once said: "Every French soldier carries a marshal's baton in his knapsack.".Hence the plausible side of colonel Durand's brilliant (but often undisciplined) career .
