Le Colonel Chabert [Colonel Chabert] **** (1994, Gérard Depardieu, Fanny Ardant, Fabrice Luchini, André Dussollier) – Classic Movie Review 11,189

Director Yves Angelo’s 1994 French historical film Le Colonel Chabert is based on a novel by Honoré de Balzac, and stars Gérard Depardieu, Fanny Ardant, Fabrice Luchini and André Dussollier.

Honoré de Balzac’s The Return of Martin Guerre-type tale provides an eagerly grabbed, ideal role for Depardieu as a lawyer’s dishevelled client who claims that he is Colonel Amédé Chabert who officially died 10 years earlier in 1807 heroically leading his troops into battle at the Eylau.

The lawyer Derville (Luchini) is impressed, deciding to take the penniless wretch on, though he also represents Chabert’s low-born but rich countess wife Rose Chapotel (Ardant), a client since she remarried ambitious count Ferraud (Dussollier).

Luchini makes the most of a scene-stealing role as he arbitrates in a duel between his two clients, while Ardant’s portrayal of a greedy, sly though inwardly vulnerable woman is extremely touching.

A basically four-handed chamber tale of polite intrigue is blown up to epic proportions by debut director Angelo with eye-catching but unnecessary battle footage, and it also has a large support cast (Daniel Prévost, Olivier Saladin, Claude Rich, Albert Delpy, Romane Bohringer, Julie Depardieu). Its best moments are in acting close-up and the four principals don’t let director Angelo down for a second, as one affecting scene succeeds another, though Depardieu’s familiar little looks and mannerisms are becoming over-exposed.

In the end a little film, not much more than an anecdote, but a very civilised, persuasive one.

Writers: Yves Angelo, Jean Cosmos and Véronique Lagrange.

It is a remake of director René Le Hénaff’s Le Colonel Chabert (1943) with Raimu, Marie Bell and Jacques Baumer.

Yves Angelo, born on 22 January 1956 in Meknès, Morocco, is known for his work as director on Colonel Chabert (1994), An Air So Pure (1997) and At My Finger Tips (2002), and has a long and distinguished career as a cinematographer.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,189

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