Le Retour de Martin Guerre [1982]

Rating: 8/10

Director: Daniel Vigne

Writer: Jean-Claude Carrière,
           Janet Lewis (The novel "The Wife of Martin Guerre"),
           Daniel Vigne,
           Natalie Zemon Davis


Featuring: Gérard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye, Maurice Barrier, Roger Planchon

There is something about true stories that makes them alluring. Maybe, it’s because they seem closer to real-life than any other story imagined and written by a writer could ever seem.

Le Retour de Martin Guerre is a French movie based on a very interesting case of imposture.I truly enjoyed watching this movie. It made me go on a 'googling spree' to find more about the main characters and about the kind of society they lived in. The cinematography is beautiful, with the village life depicted as if paintings have come into life. You can actually see that the director strove to make his depiction of that time historically accurate. In consultation with social historian Natalie Zemon Davis (who has also written a book on this case), he has recreated this intriguing tale in a magnificent way. Of course you cannot expect each and every detail to be perfectly veritable as this is a story about an incident that occurred about 400 years ago, at a time when most people did not even know how to write. There are only two written accounts of the case from that time (Arrest Memorable by Judge Jean de Coras, and a witness' account by Guillaume Le Sueur), and those would also be a little biased to the writer's perspective.

The actors portray their characters very well. Although, most people outside France only noticed Gérard Depardieu's performance in the film, Nathalie Baye was equally good in her portrayal of Bertrande.

The basic plot is as follows: 8 years after disappearing from his village and abandoning his wife and child, Martin Guerre returns back and resumes life. But, when he lays a claim on the ancestral property, his uncle and some others start to question his real identity. The village is divided into two - those who believe the man is truly Martin Guerre, and those who believe he is an imposter. A legal case ensues.

Here is a story that could be used as an example for the psychology concept of 'change blindness'. Sometimes, we fail to notice things that are absolutely staring at us. I would suggest you go through the following links to learn more. This is pretty interesting (and shocking!) stuff.

http://www.albionmonitor.com/0011a/perception.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWSxSQsspiQ

http://scienceblogs.com/mixingmemory/2006/12/coolest_experiment_ever.php

Also, Memory is not a set of photographs saved in our brain. Infact, memory is quite unreliable. We might actually have memories of incidents that we feel happened, but that did not actually happen. Well, that is yet another topic in psychology categorized as 'False memories'. But, let us not digress from the topic now.


I would like to add a little trivia here. I came to know there's an American movie "Sommersby" that is a remake of this film. But, according to what I've heard, it's not as good as this movie. So, please prefer watching the French movie. It's beautiful.


================SPOILER ALERT====================
Continue only if you wish to get hints of the climax and ending :)

Bertrande is a mystery you would wish to solve. Her motives, and the extent of her deception are points to ponder upon. How much she knew about the imposture is not known. Historians are divided in their views on this. I feel Natalie Davis has a point and I agree with her views that Bertrande was a willing accomplice in the imposture. But, there are some historians who believe in a counter-view that Bertrande was truly decieved.

Well. I'd say 'Poor Bertrande! She must have felt trapped.'

There's this man who treats her well but is not her husband. Even if she wants to, she cannot live with him if others get to know he's not really Martin, because then they'll put her to trial for infidelity.

And then there's her real husband. A man who neglects her, is heartless and doesn’t care, but to whom she is bound to. He leaves her one fine day, to seemingly never return, with no communication. Then, claims she is the one to be blamed for everything, showing no pity even when she repeatedly begs for forgiveness. You can even catch a glimpse of Judge Jean’s displeasure in his account Arrest Memorable, over how pitiless this real Martin is toward his wife. You’d almost wish there was something like divorce in those times, so she could just get away from this heartless man. She should have separated from him earlier when she had the chance due to childless marriage.

Natalie's acting is so brilliant that you can feel Bertrande trembling (even though she's not visibly shaking) when the real Martin comes into court, because now she knows the man she loves will be put to death and she’ll have to live the rest of her life with this heartless man.

Davis’ book seems to have a more detailed account of what it was like living in that time. I am going to add this book to my list of ‘to-read’ books. Anyone wishes to gift me a copy?? :D