Safe Conduct (film)
Encyclopedia
Safe Conduct is a 2002 French historical drama film directed by Bertrand Tavernier
and written by Tavernier and Jean Cosmos.
and resistance fighter Jean Devaivre and screenwriter
Jean Aurenche. Aurenche is on the move so that he doesn't have to write anything collaborationist. Devaivre is in dangerous political activity. Devaivre also works for the German production company Continental where he is respected. On the other hand, Aurenche's scriptwriting doesn't help how he lives and he is a womanizer which causes him to procrastinate.
and Le Monde
, attacked him because they thought that he was attacking the French New Wave
when he portrayed the characters of Aurenche and Bost in a positive light. Tavernier thought that it was crazy that they were attacking him and pointed out that he had worked with Jean-Luc Godard
, Claude Chabrol
, Agnès Varda
, and Jacques Demy
and did not oppose any of their works. French critics think that the film supports passitivity and collaboration as well as appealing to the conservative elements of French film-making.
In January 2002 a Paris court ruled that Tavernier was required to rewrite the screen credits to ensure full acknowledgement be given to Jean Devaivre, who in his lawsuit cliamed Tavernier duped him for commercial reasons. Devaivre had accused Tavernier of twisting the truth, and demanded the film to be withdrawn from distribution after claiming that Tavernier "deceived, robbed and betrayed artistic creation and my friendship for commercial reasons". In return Tavernier implied that the quarrel was about money, rather than truth, stating "The man whom he called 'my hero' had at first refused any payment, but his family later demanded both recompense and acknowledgement that the work was inspired by the autobiography." Judge Francis Delphin said that Laissez-passer could not go on the festival circuit without recognition of Devaivre's contribution.
out of 36 reviews with the consensus "A highly detailed, exciting historical epic."
Roger Ebert
gave the film a positive review and 4 out of 4 stars. Kent Turner of Film-Forward said that the acting is unfocused because the acting is understated and appears in many moments to be improvisational. Jürgen Fauth, of About.com, said that Tavernier has woven a rich tapestry that never hits the dramatic high point, the life-and-death crisis that Hollywood has trained us to expect, but that the film still satisfies through its continually compelling surface, the kaleidoscopic scope of its attention, the large and small stories it tells. Holly E. Ordway, of DVD Talk, said that the film will probably be enjoyed by devotees of French cinema who are well-versed in the history of the art, but that it's not worth watching for anyone else.
Lisa Besselson of Variety
felt that the film could have offered a greater insight into French film industry during a complex historical era. While noting that some of the best-handled content did not appear until 2 hours into the film, what was perceived as an unnecessary length detracted. She predicted the film "will reap the movie plenty of attention and elicit praise from French crix and essayists".
In reviewing the top 10 films of 2002, David Parkinson of The Oxford Times
wrote that with France's Vichy
era still considered a taboo topic in that country, it was not surprising that Laissez-passer "would inflame passions". He further noted that by Tavernier including names of films and film-makers that would have little historical significance to scholars, the film was a missed opportunity that "only fleetingly captures the atmosphere of suspicion and repression that existed on the studio floor or the impact the resulting pictures made on the populace".
both in 2001 and 2002. Emile Ghigo was nominated for Best Production Design and Antoine Duhamel was nominated for Best Original Score at the French Academy of Cinema. Bertrand Tavernier won Best Director, Best Film, and Best Screenplay at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival.
and the United States
.
Bertrand Tavernier
Bertrand Tavernier is a French director, screenwriter, actor, and producer.-Life and career:Tavernier was born in Lyon, the son of Geneviève and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, several years president of the French PEN club. Tavernier wanted to become a filmmaker since the age of thirteen...
and written by Tavernier and Jean Cosmos.
Plot
The film is about the French film industry from 1942 to 1944 during the Nazi occupation. The film focuses on assistant directorAssistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
and resistance fighter Jean Devaivre and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
Jean Aurenche. Aurenche is on the move so that he doesn't have to write anything collaborationist. Devaivre is in dangerous political activity. Devaivre also works for the German production company Continental where he is respected. On the other hand, Aurenche's scriptwriting doesn't help how he lives and he is a womanizer which causes him to procrastinate.
Cast
- Jacques GamblinJacques GamblinJacques Gamblin is a French actor.He was born in Granville, Manche. He studied at the Centre dramatique de Caen before he tried to film in Paris.-Filmography:*Périgord Noir...
as Jean-Devaivre - Denis PodalydèsDenis PodalydèsDenis Podalydès is a French actor, director and scriptwriter of Greek descent. He is a Sociétaire of the Comédie-Française....
as Jean Aurenche - Charlotte Kady as Suzanne Raymond
- Christian BerkelChristian BerkelChristian Berkel is a German actor.Berkel was born in Berlin, Germany. His father was a military doctor.From the age of 14 he lived in Paris where he took drama lessons with Jean-Louis Barrault and Pierre Berlin...
as Dr. Greven - Marie GillainMarie GillainMarie Gillain is a Belgian actress.In 1996 Gillain received the Prix Romy Schneider. She is single but has two daughters, Dune and Vega .-In popular culture:* She was the heroine of the John Malkovich play Hysteria in Chicago on December 1999.* She...
as Olga - Olivier GourmetOlivier GourmetOlivier Gourmet is a Belgian actor. He won the Best Actor award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for his role in Le Fils by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. He also appeared in La Promesse, Rosetta and L'Enfant....
as Roger Richebé - Marie Desgranges as Simone Devaivre
- Ged Marlon as Jean-Paul Le Chanois
- Philippe Morier-GenoudPhilippe Morier-Genoud-Selected filmography:* Confidentially Yours * Au revoir les enfants * Cyrano de Bergerac * Safe Conduct -Reference:...
as Maurice Tourneur - Laurent Schilling as Charles Spaak
- Maria Pitarresi as Reine Sorignal
- Richard Sammel as Richard Pottier
- Philippe Saïd as Pierre Nord
- Liliane Rovère as Mémaine
- Götz Burger as Bauermeister
- Jacques BoudetJacques BoudetJacques Boudet is a French stage and screen actor. He had great success in the 1980s with his appearance in Exercises in Style, and is featured in the film The Names of Love ....
as café owner - Henri Attal as Raoul
Production
The film is based on French director Jean-Devaivre's memoirs. Bertrand Tavernier felt compelled to tell the story because of his interest in reviving films from 1942 to 1944 and because he has friendships with key figures from those films. Principle filming began November 6, 2000.Controversy
The real life Devaivre sued director Tavernier because he wanted his name bigger than Aurenche's in the credits. Tavernier's enemies, including Cahiers du CinémaCahiers du cinéma
Cahiers du Cinéma is an influential French film magazine founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. It developed from the earlier magazine Revue du Cinéma involving members of two Paris film clubs — Objectif 49 and...
and Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
, attacked him because they thought that he was attacking the French New Wave
French New Wave
The New Wave was a blanket term coined by critics for a group of French filmmakers of the late 1950s and 1960s, influenced by Italian Neorealism and classical Hollywood cinema. Although never a formally organized movement, the New Wave filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of...
when he portrayed the characters of Aurenche and Bost in a positive light. Tavernier thought that it was crazy that they were attacking him and pointed out that he had worked with Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
, Claude Chabrol
Claude Chabrol
Claude Chabrol was a French film director, a member of the French New Wave group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s...
, Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda is a French film director and professor at the European Graduate School. Her movies, photographs, and art installations focus on documentary realism, feminist issues, and social commentary — with a distinct experimental style....
, and Jacques Demy
Jacques Demy
Jacques Demy was one of the most approachable filmmakers to appear in the wake of the French New Wave. Uninterested in the formal experimentation of Alain Resnais, or the political agitation of Jean-Luc Godard, Demy instead created a self-contained fantasy world closer to that of François...
and did not oppose any of their works. French critics think that the film supports passitivity and collaboration as well as appealing to the conservative elements of French film-making.
In January 2002 a Paris court ruled that Tavernier was required to rewrite the screen credits to ensure full acknowledgement be given to Jean Devaivre, who in his lawsuit cliamed Tavernier duped him for commercial reasons. Devaivre had accused Tavernier of twisting the truth, and demanded the film to be withdrawn from distribution after claiming that Tavernier "deceived, robbed and betrayed artistic creation and my friendship for commercial reasons". In return Tavernier implied that the quarrel was about money, rather than truth, stating "The man whom he called 'my hero' had at first refused any payment, but his family later demanded both recompense and acknowledgement that the work was inspired by the autobiography." Judge Francis Delphin said that Laissez-passer could not go on the festival circuit without recognition of Devaivre's contribution.
Reception
The film got 75% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
out of 36 reviews with the consensus "A highly detailed, exciting historical epic."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film a positive review and 4 out of 4 stars. Kent Turner of Film-Forward said that the acting is unfocused because the acting is understated and appears in many moments to be improvisational. Jürgen Fauth, of About.com, said that Tavernier has woven a rich tapestry that never hits the dramatic high point, the life-and-death crisis that Hollywood has trained us to expect, but that the film still satisfies through its continually compelling surface, the kaleidoscopic scope of its attention, the large and small stories it tells. Holly E. Ordway, of DVD Talk, said that the film will probably be enjoyed by devotees of French cinema who are well-versed in the history of the art, but that it's not worth watching for anyone else.
Lisa Besselson of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
felt that the film could have offered a greater insight into French film industry during a complex historical era. While noting that some of the best-handled content did not appear until 2 hours into the film, what was perceived as an unnecessary length detracted. She predicted the film "will reap the movie plenty of attention and elicit praise from French crix and essayists".
In reviewing the top 10 films of 2002, David Parkinson of The Oxford Times
The Oxford Times
The Oxford Times is a weekly newspaper, published each Thursday in Oxford, England. It is published from a large production facility at Osney Mead, west Oxford, and is owned by Newsquest, the UK subsidiary of US-based Gannett Company....
wrote that with France's Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
era still considered a taboo topic in that country, it was not surprising that Laissez-passer "would inflame passions". He further noted that by Tavernier including names of films and film-makers that would have little historical significance to scholars, the film was a missed opportunity that "only fleetingly captures the atmosphere of suspicion and repression that existed on the studio floor or the impact the resulting pictures made on the populace".
Awards
Jacques Gamblin won the Silver Bear for Best Actor and Antoine Duhamel won Best Original Score at the Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
both in 2001 and 2002. Emile Ghigo was nominated for Best Production Design and Antoine Duhamel was nominated for Best Original Score at the French Academy of Cinema. Bertrand Tavernier won Best Director, Best Film, and Best Screenplay at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival.
Film festivals
- New York Film FestivalNew York Film FestivalThe New York Film Festival has been a major film festival since it began in 1963 in New York. The films are selected by the Film Society of Lincoln Center...
- City of Lights, City of AngelsCity of Lights, City of AngelsFounded in 1995, City of Lights, City of Angels is an annual film festival held in the United States which showcases the diversity of French cinema and promotes its talents among film professionals. The Festival is also open to the general public. All films shown during the festival have been...
Festival - Berlin Film Festival
- Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival
- LA French Film Festival
DVD release
The DVD has a 2.35:1 picture and Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. The special features is a theatrical trailer, an interview with the director, and production notes. The language is French with English subtitles. The DVD was released on November 2002 in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
External links
- Laissez-passer at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...