THE WIDOW OF SAINT-PIERRE (LA VEUVE DE SAINT-PIERRE)
In 1850, a ship captain is brutally murdered by Neel Auguste (director Emir Kusturica) and Louis Ollivier (Reynald Bouchard) in the remote outpost of Saint-Pierre, a French owned island off the coast of Newfoundland. Neel is sentenced to death while Louis gets a life term, yet ironically Louis is killed in an accident on the way to the prison. Taking pity on Auguste is Madame La (Juliette Binoche, "Chocolat"), the unconventional wife of the captain (Daniel Auteuil, "Girl on the Bridge") responsible for carrying out the execution. As Saint-Pierre awaits the arrival of a guillotine, August becomes popular with the townspeople in "The Widow of Saint-Pierre."
Written by Claude Faraldo from the original court records, "The Widow of Saint-Pierre" is a tragic period piece. While the outcome of the story may be telegraphed, director Patrice Leconte ("Girl on the Bridge") shrouds his film in many layers of mystery.
The Captain is a good and moral soldier, elegant horseman and husband madly in love with his wife. While respected by the island's governors, he's seen as odd. We're told that Madame La has given up a prestigious name to marry the Captain, yet do not know why they've been banished to such a barren and remote post. Was their passion a scandal back home? In turn, Madame La's request to have Neel assist her with a garden is equally odd. While her instincts about the man prove to be right, her extreme nervousness upon meeting him make us question her motives, even more so when it's clear that Neel comes to adore her and gossip develops as the twosome traipse about the island performing good deeds. (Neel also impregnates a widow on one of these jaunts, whom he is later allowed to marry.)
As Neel's popularity grows (he's made an honorary member of the Cafe du Nord for 'the rest of your long life' by it's owner after saving the building) and the guillotine makes its way from the island of Martinique, tension mounts between the Captain and his wife and the island's governors, who insist upon carrying out the execution in order to save face with France. Their lack of an executioner, or anyone willing to become one, remains the Captain's trump card - for a time. As the Captain supports his wife's statements and actions almost to the point of insubordination, he gains the admiration of the wives of his superiors, further infuriating them.
Auteuil, so marvelous in Leconte's last film, is a completely different character here. While still a romantic, he's believable as a military man, cutting a dashing figure on his black stallion Salt Cod. Auteuil creates a totally sympathetic man whose honor is unquestioned even though all we really know about him is that he truly loves his wife (and his horse). Binoche as the absurdly pretty gentlewoman projects kindness, but her mysteries are a bit more frustrating as we're never really clear on her feelings for Auguste. The odd casting of director Emir Kusturica ("When Father Was Away on Business") as Auguste works - he's a burly bear of a man of few words, a St. Bernard trotting at Madame La's heels.
Leconte's cinematographer Eduardo Serra captures beautiful images, such as Auguste pulling Madame La along in a sled upon an endless expanse of snow. The movie was filmed on locations in Nova Scotia and Quebec with careful attention to period details.
B+
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