THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF
(LE HUSSARD SUR LE TOIT)
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 7.5 Alternative Scale: *** out of ****
France, 1995 U.S. Release Date: 5/24/96 (limited) Running Length: 1:57 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, nudity, cholera) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: approx. 2.2:1
Cast: Olivier Martinez, Juliette Binoche, Pierre Arditi, Carlo Cecchi Director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau Producer: Rene Cleitman Screenplay: Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Nina Cornpaneez, and Jean-Claude Carriere Cinematography: Thierry Arbogast Music: Jean-Claude Petit U.S. Distributor: Miramax Zoe In French with English subtitles
The year is 1832. Napoleon has fallen, leaving behind a vacuum of power. The Austrian empire is attempting a takeover of Italy, and many Italian patriots have fled to France to continue the fight from there. Meanwhile, a devastating cholera epidemic sweeps across France like wildfire, wiping out entire towns and generating widespread a fear of all strangers. Soldiers patrol the countryside, enforcing quarantines by lethal means. It's a grim era, and many superstitious folk think that God's judgment of the world has finally come.
This is the setting for Jean-Paul Rappeneau's THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF, an old fashioned, historical, epic romance in the same vein as recent films like THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, LEGENDS OF THE FALL, and QUEEN MARGOT. These movies have certain common characteristics: a love affair involving two attractive protagonists; sweeping, beautifully- photographed backgrounds; and a tragic, tumultuous plot. Replete with heaving bosoms, thundering horses, energetic swordfights, and glorious widescreen cinematography, THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF delivers what's expected. Like any good summer film, it's fun to watch while not offering a serious intellectual challenge. (Presumably, Miramax is offering THE HORSEMAN as an alternative for anyone seeking something with more substance than TWISTER or MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.)
The two protagonists in THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF are Angelo Pardi (played by a hunky Olivier Martinez), an Italian Carbonaro in exile, and Pauline de Theus (Juliette Binoche), a married French noblewoman. Their relationship is surprisingly chaste, primarily because Pauline is determined to remain faithful to her husband. Other than a few pregnant glances, these two don't share much in the way of intimacy. They don't even kiss. A little extra heat might have made for a more powerful romance -- at times, THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF takes restraint too far.
Love and emotion aside, this is a wonderful spectacle, and, with all the action and adventure, it's an undeniably enjoyable romp. Even those who typically shun France's more artistic fare will be entertained by this big-budget feature. Not counting the subtitles, it's the kind of thing that Hollywood would be proud of. There's nothing in this film that American audiences can't relate to.
The story opens with Angelo dodging a trio of Austrian assassins sent to Aix-en-Provence to murder him. With the killers hot on his trail, he flees to the city of Manosque. Before he can join up with a group of Italian refugees, he is accused of poisoning a water supply, and has to run from an angry mob. Angelo takes to the rooftops as riots break out in the streets below. When a thunderstorm strikes, he shelters in a house. The woman living there is Pauline, and, upon encountering Angelo, she reacts with unexpected calmness, inviting him to warm up and have some tea. Soon after, the two are paired in a flight across France to reunite Pauline with her husband and send Angelo back to Italy.
Although much of THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF is more lighthearted than many sweeping melodramas, there are moments of stark, horrifying power. Most deal with the effects of cholera on France's unprepared populace. Early in the film, there is a scene where Angelo stumbles into an abandoned house to find a flock of crows gorging themselves on the pasty, decaying corpses of the former human occupants. It's a chillingly memorable moment.
This is one of the most lavish, recent French exports, and the production values are top-notch. Rappeneau (CYRANO DE BERGERAC) directs with a sure hand, Martinez and Binoche do credible (if not spectacular) jobs, and cameos by Francois Cluzet and the ubiquitous Gerard Depardieu add a few brief moments of "star power". Despite all of this, however, THE HORSEMAN ON THE ROOF is not a transcendent experience. But, while it doesn't have the power to get eyes misty and hearts aflutter, it's still entertaining enough to make the two hours pass quickly.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net web: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews