Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133651 in DVD
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: French
• Running time: 110 minutes

Amazon.com
A left-for-dead soldier tries to regain his fiercely disputed identity after a decade-long disappearance in this slow but engrossing adaptation of Balzac's classic Napoleonic-era novel. In his directorial debut, Yves Angelo (the brilliant cinematographer of, among others, Baxter and Un Coeur en Hiver) compensates for an occasionally plodding narrative with some startlingly lavish compositions and a masterful use of sound--particularly during some stunning combat flashbacks. An uneven, often viscerally compelling film bolstered by a haunting opening sequence and the primal charisma of star Gerard Depardieu. In French with English subtitles. For a markedly different, decidedly more romantic look at a similar theme, check out The Return of Martin Guerre (also starring Depardieu) or its Americanized remake, Sommersby. --Andrew Wright

Customer Reviews

Bravo Angelo
This directorial debut for cinematographer Yves Angelo who shot Claude Berri's Germinal and Alain Corneau's Tous Les Matins du Monde is an exciting achievement, visually ravishing. This is a beautiful realisation of the Honore de Balzac story of a soldier thought to have been killed in the 1807 Battle of Eylau, who returns to Paris to reclaim his name and fortune from his now remarried wife. The similarity to The Return of Martin Guerre is drawn because of the casting of Gerard Depardieu as the soldier, but the identity of Chabert is never challenged. Angelo includes footage of the battle using a blue filter and we see the obscenity of war by the burning of a dead horse, and the nobility of of a charge via the thudding of hooves on snow. When human bodies are piled to be buried the mud makes the image sculptural. These sequences are brief flashbacks but they, and the training camp where Chabert resides with white bears during negotiations for his claim, help us to understand his character. The film is well-paced, with scenes timed at just the right speed to allow an audience to appreciate the intricacies of the tale unfolding. Of note are the editing of a pre-bed servant ritual which is carried out, without fuss, under a conversation, and Depardieu finding eggs in a birds nest signalling the appearance of his former wife's children. Since the screenplay is based on a novel, part of the pleasure to be had is in the richness of the language, delivered by 3 superb actors. Chabert is a wounded character and Depardieu hides him under a large hat, reminiscent of a fop and The Cat in the Hat. If Depardieu is not as memorable as he has been in other roles it's probably because here he defers his scenes to Fabrice Luchini as his lawyer and Fanny Ardant as his former wife. Luchini is the mediator between the two and while his words may soothe, his eyes are daggers. Ardant at times resembles Ingrid Bergman and she isn't afraid to show how manipulative her character is. Her love for Chabert is explicably entangled with his money and her soft dresses, bonnets and ribbons hide a viper. A special nod to the costume designer Franca Squarciapino, and to Angelo's discreet use of classical music.

Outstanding commentary on "le cancer morale" of humanity.
"Le Colonel Chabert" is a reflective commentary on the suffering of a single man, whose identity, wife, and fortune have been lost. Returning from "the dead", Chabert finds himself in a state of pain; alone and poor. Yet even worse, the world and questions his own existence. This film is yet another french classic, highlighting the career of Gerard Depardieu. "Le Colonel Chabert" forces one to confront death, misfortune, betrayal, and the subjectivity of the definition of insanity.

Excellent Adaptation
Yves Angelo's adaptation of Balzac's classic short story is a moving work in which the direction, cinematography and acting all excel in manifesting Honore de Balzac's moving exploration of the human condition.

The morbid opening scene of the aftermath of Napoleon's phyrric victory at Eylau is accentuated by haunting melody of Beethoven's "Ghost" trio: a recurring thematic image througout the film. One truly feels how vanquished and disillusioned the colonel must have felt in seeing himself among the piles of corpses on the frigid battlefield. All the colonel wants is to be reunited with his identity that his heartless wife has denied him for the past decade. The colonel himself is a ghost among the living; a man with only a past but no future: a man whose sense of self died along with the ambitions of the Napoleanic reign. His wife wants only the lavish life which he had made available to her but not his person; his "death" ensures and continues her prosperous life. The movie truly captures the deep character study typical of Honore de Balzac's works.

Altogether a brilliant film with great direction and powerful acting. I hope the film will soon be released on DVD.