The Blood of Others is a 1984 film directed by 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...

. It is based on the 1945 novel The Blood of Others

The Blood of Others

The Blood of Others is a novel by the French existentialist Simone de Beauvoir first published in 1945 and depicting the lives of several characters in Paris leading up to and during the Second World War. The novel explores themes of freedom and responsibility.-Plot summary:In German-occupied...

by Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir

Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...

. The film was originally made as a three hour television mini-series and then recut down 40 minutes for a theatrical release

Plot

In Nazi occupied France, Jean Blomart sits by a bed in which his lover Helene lays dying. Through a series of flashbacks, we learn about both characters and their relationship to each other. As a young man filled with guilt about his privileged middle-class life, Jean joins the Communist party and breaks from his family, determined to make his own way in life. After the death of a friend in a political protest, for which he feels guilty, Jean quits the Party and concentrates on trade union activities. Helene is a young designer who works in her family's confectionary shop and is dissatisfied with her conventional romance with her fiance Paul. She contrives to meet Jean, and although he initially rejects her, they form a relationship after she suffers an abortion following a reckless liaison with another man. Caring for Helene's happiness, Jean tells Helene he loves her even though he believes he does not. He proposes to her and she accepts.

When France enters the Second World War, Jean, conceding the need for violent conflict to effect change, becomes a soldier. Helene intervenes against his will to arrange a safe posting for him. Angry with her, Jean breaks their relationship. As the German forces advance towards Paris, Helene flees and witnesses the suffering of other refugees. Returning to Paris, she briefly takes up with a German who could advance her career, but soon sees what her countrymen are suffering. She also witnesses the roundup of Jews. Securing the safety of her Jewish friend Yvonne leads Helene back to Jean who has become a leader in a Resistance

French Resistance

The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...

 group. She is moved to join the group. Jean has reconnected with his father with the common goal to liberate France from Germany. His mother however is less impressed by the lives lost to the Resistance. Helene is shot in a resistance activity and during Jean's night vigil at her side, he examines his love for Helene and the wider consequences of his actions. As morning dawns, Helene dies and Jean decides to continue with acts of resistance.

Principal cast

Actor	Role
Jodie Foster Jodie Foster Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....	Hélène Bertrand
Michael Ontkean Michael Ontkean Michael Leonard Ontkean is a Canadian actor. He is best known for the 1970s crime drama The Rookies, the film Slap Shot , and the cult-favorite TV series Twin Peaks .-Life and career:...	Jean
Sam Neill Sam Neill Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE is a New Zealand actor. He is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III....	Bergman
Lambert Wilson Lambert Wilson Lambert Wilson is a French actor. He is internationally known for his portrayal of The Merovingian in The Matrix He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the son of Georges Wilson, who was an actor, theatrical manager and director of the Theatre National de Paris.Wilson screen tested for The...	Paul
Stéphane Audran Stéphane Audran Stéphane Audran is a French film and television actress, known for her performances in Oscar winning movies such as Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie and Babette's Feast and in critically acclaimed films like The Big Red One and Violette Nozière .She married...	Gigi
Alexandra Stewart Alexandra Stewart Alexandra Stewart is a Canadian actress.Born in Montreal, Quebec, Alexandra Stewart left for Paris, France, in 1958, to study art...	Madeleine
Jean-François Balmer Jean-François Balmer Jean-François Balmer is a Swiss actor. He has worked extensively in French cinema, television and stage productions since the early 1970s.-Selected filmography:* Little Marcel * La Menace...	Arnaud
John Vernon John Vernon John Keith Vernon was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada.-Early life:...	Charles
Jean-Pierre Aumont Jean-Pierre Aumont -Early life:Aumont was born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons in Paris, the son of Suzanne and Alexandre Salomons, owner of La Maison du Blanc . His mother's uncle was well-known stage actor Georges Berr. His father was from a Dutch Jewish family and his mother's family were French Jews...	M. Blomart
Jean-Yves Berteloot Jean-Yves Berteloot -Film:-Television:- External links :...	Coutant Repentigny

Critical reception

From Dennis Schwartz of Ozus' World Movie Reviews, who gave the film a C-:

Soundtrack

• "C'était écrit"

Composed by Jacques Stern

Jacques Stern

Jacques Stern is a cryptographer, currently a professor at the École Normale Supérieure, where he is Director of the Computer Science Laboratory. He received the 2006 CNRS Gold Medal...

Lyrics by Jack Meskill

Performed by Maurice Chevalier

Maurice Chevalier

Maurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films including The Love Parade and The Big Pond...

• "Menilmontant"
  

Written and performed by Charles Trenet

Charles Trenet

Charles Trenet was a French singer and songwriter, most famous for his recordings from the late 1930s until the mid-1950s, though his career continued through the 1990s...

• "A Paris dans chaque Faublourg"
  

Composed by Maurice Jaubert

Maurice Jaubert

Maurice Jaubert was a French composer of incidental music for stage and film music, famous for his collaborations with the masters of poetic realism Jean Vigo, René Clair, Julien Duvivier and Marcel Carné...

Lyrics by René Clair

René Clair

René Clair born René-Lucien Chomette, was a French filmmaker.-Biography:He was born in Paris and grew up in the Les Halles quarter. He attended the Lycée Montaigne and the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. During World War I, he served as an ambulance driver. After the war, he started a career as a journalist...

Performed by Lys Gauty