SUITE FRANCAISE comes with a 'genesis' story, of which we are reminded in the end credits. The Jewish author died in Auschwitz, having written the first two novels of a planned quintet in notebooks which were only rediscovered in 1998 and republished in 2004. This Anne Frank back story is more poignant than the romance in the book and the movie.
Matthias Schoenaerts is very believable as the Nazi with a soft centre, and Kristin Scott Thomas is splendid as the flinty mother-in-law, although her role somewhat runs out of steam. Michelle Williams' lead performance is a bit under-powered: maybe it needed an actress of Cate Blanchett's intensity to bring the character to life. Director Saul Dibb appears to be aiming for a Thomas Hardy tragic 'pastorale', but the end result has more the tone of a Mills & Boon novelette. And, at my local Odeon, it was a very grainy print.
I ended up feeling that I'd seen a heterosexual version of E.M. Forster's MAURICE: a bitter-sweet love-story with lots of period charm but not enough guts.
Matthias Schoenaerts is very believable as the Nazi with a soft centre, and Kristin Scott Thomas is splendid as the flinty mother-in-law, although her role somewhat runs out of steam. Michelle Williams' lead performance is a bit under-powered: maybe it needed an actress of Cate Blanchett's intensity to bring the character to life. Director Saul Dibb appears to be aiming for a Thomas Hardy tragic 'pastorale', but the end result has more the tone of a Mills & Boon novelette. And, at my local Odeon, it was a very grainy print.
I ended up feeling that I'd seen a heterosexual version of E.M. Forster's MAURICE: a bitter-sweet love-story with lots of period charm but not enough guts.