The first English-language film by French director Alain René, Providence, 1977. The film received at one time quite a lot of awards, is considered a classic of author's cinema.
The film consists of three parts. First, we are shown a trial in which ex-military Kevin (David Warner) is tried, who shot a strange old man in the woods,
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The first English-language film by French director Alain René, Providence, 1977. The film received at one time quite a lot of awards, is considered a classic of author's cinema.
The film consists of three parts. First, we are shown a trial in which ex-military Kevin (David Warner) is tried, who shot a strange old man in the woods, allegedly already wounded by the past military, who asked him to do so. The prosecutor in court is Claude Langham (Dirk Bogard), who is trying to prove the guilt of the defendant, while he believes that he committed an act of mercy. Claude's wife Sonia (Ellen Burstyn) is also present in the room, who clearly sympathizes with the defendant and eventually brings him to her home, where she unsuccessfully tries to seduce him. We see some of Kevin's actions as well as Claude's. There are other characters coming up. But the background is always present old Clive Langham (John Gilgud), suffering from pain in his bed and getting drunk. He's a writer, after all, when he starts shuffling the characters, we realize that what's going on is either the plot of his novel, or just a figment of a sick and drunken imagination. From time to time, we see things happening in wartime. They are invading the narrative, though not for a very understandable reason. We do not see any particular logic, although we are told one or another reason for the actions of the characters. But the morning comes, we learn that in fact, the writer’s birthday, he turns 78 years old, his son Claude and wife Sonya come to visit him, as well as his illegitimate son Kevin, who are absolutely different from the characters he invented, although named by their names. Why his imagination rewarded them with such actions, one can only guess.
The film itself is quite interesting, but I wouldn’t say I really liked it, despite the really great acting. And I didn’t like the music, it’s kind of heavy, maybe intentionally heavy.
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