The latest from the prolific François Ozon is an elegiac narrative set in a small German town post World War I. A mysterious stranger places flowers on the grave of Frantz Hoffmeister, a young German soldier killed in battle.
Filmed in a mix of colour and black and white, Ozon’s film is a story of truths and non-truths, of similarities and opposites, of nationalism and love as Frantz’s fiancee, Anna (a quietly expressive Paula Beer), comes to understand the stranger – a shy, nervous French soldier, Pierre Niney.
Based on Ernst Lubitsch’s 1932 feature Broken Lullaby starring Lionel Barrymore and Phillips Holmes and itself based the stage play The Man I Killed by Maurice Rostand.
Rating: 58%
Director: François Ozon (8 Women, Swimming Pool)
Writer: Philippe Piazzo (Toute est calme) – based on the film Broken Lullaby itself adapted from the stage play by Maurice Rostand
Main cast: Pierre Niney (Yves Saint Laurent, Just Like Brothers), Paula Beer (The Dark Valley, Ludwig II), Anton von Lucke
An Opinion or Two 