One of the (many) joys of watching a new film from French filmmaker François Ozon is that you are never sure what to expect as he so loves to switch it up when it comes to different genres. This time he has opted to make his first movie in German, and it is a costume drama set immediately just after WW1, and is a partial remake of one of Ernst Lubistch’s lesser known films Broken Lullaby.
Most of the movie is shot in black and white and starts in the small German country town of Quedlinburg where Anna (Paula Beer) is paying her daily visit to the grave of her fiance Frantz who was killed in the war, and she is shocked to discover a young Frenchman there too. Adrien (Pierre Niney) is a very nervous and sensitive young man and he tells that he was a friend of Frantz when he was a student in Paris before the war. She persuades him to visit the home of Frantz’a parents where she now lives, hoping that his presence may give some comfort to them.
Initially Dr Hoffmeister (Ernst Stötzner) gives the cold-shoulder to Adrien but anxious to know more about the pre-war days when his son was happy he soon mellows and welcomes the stranger into the family circle. The fact that he is made to feel so welcome into their home over several visits dwells on his conscious too much and he eventually confesses to Anna the shocking details of how he really knew the dead soldier.
He leaves to go back to France soon after this, and although Anna is angry at what she had learned, after a time she is persuaded to go and find Adrien who now seems to have disappeared completely off the face of the earth. With some very adroit detective work she tracks him down to his mother’s chateau in the country, and now thinking he may in fact be a possible substitute for Frantz in her affections she sets off in hot pursuit.
However this being an Ozon film we know the plot simply will not take the expected route or even attempt to tie up all the loose ends nicely, and he manages to keep giving us surprises in what is essentially a very engaging melodrama. There was also a very possibly homoerotic connection between the two men that Ozon hints at more than once, but never follows through on.
And although this is by no means an anti-war film, there are scenes of some very nasty displays of xenophobia and nationalism from some of the Germans still sore from their recent defeat, which sadly echoes some of the extreme behavior in our current political climate.
Frantz has more than its fair share of charm with excellent performances from its two talented lead actors, and is visually quite stunning with its varying hues of black and white, and in many ways doesn’t feel like a typical Ozon move. But then again, what does.
Labels: 2017, drama, Francois Ozon, French
