François Ozon remakes a silent-era classic with this stunningly beautiful period drama.
The great German director Ernst Lubitsch directed the anti-war drama ‘Broken Lullaby’ –an adaptation of a play by Maurice Rostand – in 1932. Ozon’s version plays down the anti-war sentiment, instead focusing more on the developing relationship between the two main characters. Anna (Paula Beer) lives with her parents in Germany and mourns her fiancé, who was killed in the final stages of the Great War. She visits his grave regularly and is surprised one day to find Adrien (Pierre Niney), a Frenchman, paying his respects there. As they get to know each other, Anna and Adrien find they have much in common, but the ghosts of the conflict still live among them. Shot in crisp, rapturous monochrome, ‘Frantz’ is one of Ozon’s quietest and most affecting films.
★★★★ "A human drama with an aching heart set against a winningly old fashioned canvas" - Phil de Semlyen, Empire
★★★★ "Stunning" - Nigel M Smith, The Guardian
★★★★ "Every bit as handsome, teasing and therapeutically smart as we’ve come to expect from the prolific French director" - Robbie Collin, The Telegraph
12
114 minutes
2017
Drama, European
France
French, German
English
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