Une aussi longue absence

Generally the simple name of Marguerite Duras makes me yawn my head off.But here,not at all.Released in 1960, this little gem has almost sunk into oblivion,and for good reasons : Henri Colpi was not part of the Nouvelle Vague and it was a curse when His Majesty Godard's reign began.

Hindsight displays the great charms of this movie: the subject is finally close to "Un long Dimanche de Fiançailles" ,Jeunet's extravaganza,but it's an intimate drama and much more moving.

During WW2,Thérèse (Alida Valli,the great Italian thespian,excellent as ever) lost her husband;he had been reported missing in Germany.In her small bistro,she is still waiting,waiting...One days she spots a tramp on the street (George Wilson).Might he be the one?Might he? A film about souvenirs,lost illusions,fear of loneliness,nostalgia,hope against hope,"Une aussi longue absence" is all this and more.Enhanced by George Delerue's (who else?)delicate score,which features the little song "Trois petites notes de Musique" (= three little music notes) , an infinite poetry emanates from Colpi's work.

In 1960,there was not only Truff' or God' in France!Please give the non nouvelle vague directors a chance!They were not out of breath either.

Although it might not belong in the 'neglected masterpiece' category this tender, poignant and beautifully understated film deserves to be far better known.

Henri Colpi and Yasmine Chesnay had together contributed superlative editing to 'Hiroshima, mon amour' and 'Last year at Marienbad'. This is Colpi's directorial debut and Chesnay is credited with montage. The tempo is 'lento' throughout and severely tests the attention span of the average viewer. It gradually draws you in however and is ultimately richly rewarding.

Therese feels sure that she recognises in the tramp who passes her bistro every day the husband that was arrested by the Gestapo and deported fifteen years earlier. He is suffering from amnesia and she sets about helping him to restore his memory. Even when he suddenly departs she does not give up hope and says "I will wait until Winter."

The two central performances of Alida Valli and Georges Wilson are simply stunning and the last thirty minutes or so represent film making at its best. The scenes that stand out are those in which she uses the amnesiac's love of Rossini's operas to try and unlock his mind and that in which she discovers the deep scar on his skull as they dance to the delightful 'trois petites notes de musique' of Georges Delerue.

Both the director and writer Marguerite Duras have succeeded admirably in depicting the strength and constancy of a woman's love but also, in Colpi's own words, "the fundamental impossibility of two human beings to communicate."

A film that is slow, subtle, inconclusive. For life moves slowly, is full of subtleties which escape us, and fails to offer neat conclusions.

Shot in black and white in an authentic corner of Paris (including the huge Renault factory since demolished) populated by typical locals, it is a work of intricate art dealing with universal themes.

How can Europeans who lived through the traumas of World War 2 forget them? If your husband was captured and tortured by the Gestapo and then disappeared into a concentration camp, how can you have a normal life? After fifteen years Thérèse has not remarried and keeps her lover at arm's length: could her husband one day return from the dead? By intuition she might recognise him, but would he recognise her? While they could obviously not pick up where they left off, could they even pick up at all?

So begins the slow game in which Thérèse tries to make the amnesiac tramp recognise and accept her. A soundtrack of beautiful evocative music adds richness and feeling to the deep emotions the two characters are undergoing.

PS Similar themes can be found in two French postwar novels: "D'entre les morts" (1954) that was transposed to San Francisco for the immortal film "Vertigo" of 1958, and "Le retour des cendres" (1961) which was less successfully made into "Return from the Ashes" in 1965.

Henri Colpi's directorial debut film, 'Une si longue absence' (the English title is 'The Long Absence'), won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1961 with 'Viridiana' by Luis Bunuel. Such a distinction should have launched a formidable career, especially since Colpi was not an unknown name, already having significant contributions as director of editing in films such as 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' by Alain Resnais. And yet, the promises have not been fulfilled. Although he continued to make contributions to many films, some remarkable, most in TV or film editing, his career as a feature films director counted a total of only five films and none of those that followed managed to approach economy of means and artistic refinement in 'Une si longue absence'. Was it because of the lack of synchronisation with some of the principles of the New Wave? Maybe he never received again a screenplay like the one written by Marguerite Duras for this film? We can only regret, because 'Une si longue absence', seen 60 years after its making, is a remarkable film in many ways. The decision of the Cannes jury in 1961 was fully justified. Colpi's debut film had its place on the same high step of the podium together with Bunuel's masterpiece.

The story takes place in a small bistro in a French village, somewhere on the road between Paris and the south of France and in the surrounding square and streets. We are in 1960 and the traces of the Second World War are still visible on the walls of the old church but especially in the minds and souls of the local people. Some continue to talk about the war and link the news with about the endless conflicts France seemed to be involved it to the events of that time, others continue to live the traumas of the disappearances of loved ones. Among the latter is the owner of the bistro, Therese Langlois (Alida Valli), who never stopped waiting for her missing husband, arrested by the Gestapo and taken prisoner in Germany in the last year of the war. When a vagabond (Georges Wilson) appears on the streets of the village, a man who seems to have forgotten his identity as a result of a trauma that also took place at that time, it seems to Therese, and later she becomes more and more convinced, that he is her missing husband. The woman who never stopped carrying the love for the lost man in her soul will try all sorts of tricks to help the tramp remember something about his past - from playing opera music on the music box in the restaurant to inviting him to dance, from reciting loud the family history to serving his favourite types of cheese. Will these attempts succeed? Is he the man Therese is looking for, or is it more about an embodiment of a love that has no concrete substance?

The story is told with minimalist artistic means, and here, as in the way the nature and streets of the city are filmed (the cinematography belongs to Marcel Weiss) it is felt thatHenri Colpi was not at all detached from the cinematic techniques introduced by the New Wave. On the other hand, the dialogues are literary chiseled (Marguerite Duras' contribution is obvious) and the acting continues a style specific to classic French cinema. Both Alida Valli and Georges Wilson create admirable, sensitive and restrained role. The combination of the wide screen and the black and white film is excellently used in several multi-shot scenes, which avoids changing the shooting angles. The sets manage to transport us to the era and Georges Delerue's music dramatically punctuates the story, also introducing a beautiful theme song ('Trois petites notes de musique'). Emotionally and cinematically, 'Une si longue absence' is outstanding. We can only regret that Henri Colpi did not manage to continue his career as a director with films of the same quality as this debut.

For many amateurs associated with cinema, a successful film need to be entertaining with too many sequences occurring with great speed. If such is the concept which defines 'cinema' and 'films' then it would not be incorrect to apply the concept of slowness to many films whose 'real action' come into being only when all the characters and their roles have been clearly defined. This is the case with "The Long Absence"/"Une Aussi Longue Absence" directed by Henri Colpi. Among its important awards one can mention two important recognitions-Palme d'Or award 1961 and Louis Delluc prize 1960.Nothing spectacular happens within the first thirty minutes of this film. However, what gets shown during this time duration has a direct bearing on this film's title. Henri Colpi has set his film during post 14th July ("Quatorze Juillet" parade) holiday season in a quiet Parisian suburb where very few cars can be seen on roads, people know each other quite well and meet regularly at the local bar to listen to music and radio while having a few drinks. This film's 'real action' takes shape when the woman bar owner meets a tramp. This meeting has fatal consequences for both people. For a film based on a real story involving people who lost their families and memories during the war, Italian actress Alida Valli is excellent in her role as the female bar owner who is too obsessed about the memory of her husband who was left to fend for himself during deportation. It is her immense love for her husband which persuades her to view the tramp as her late husband. Actor Georges Wilson portrays his role with utmost care to reveal a tramp who is conscientious to the core. He is the one who delineates himself as the master of his destiny in all situations whether it is about appearance, choice of music or dwelling. There are not so many films which feature mature themes like companionship, life, loss of memory, obsession and war. Henri Colpi's film is considered a classic as well as a masterpiece due to its perfect handling and treatment of these life affirming themes.