Charlot47 Enjoyable fast-moving comic and romantic drama set in the USA and France during the eventful year of 1793. Central to it is the stormy relationship between Nicolas Phillibert (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and his childhood sweetheart Charlotte (Marlène Jobert), daughter of a wine merchant in the port of Nantes. The ups and downs of their rocky marriage and of their temptation by others are played out against the much greater dramas engulfing France. We see the Reign of Terror raging, with kangaroo courts, drowned corpses in the river and royalists carted off to the guillotine. We also see the royalist counter-revolutionaries at war against the new régime in the Vendée. Finally we see the Soldiers of Year II, the mass levy raised to fight the Austrian invaders. Much of the film was shot in the unspoiled Romanian countryside, using thousands of soldiers with authentic weapons and kit. As a re-creation of a complex historical time as well as a humorous exploration of a quirky couple's on and off relationship, the film is constantly exciting. Belmondo gives us his usual action man, indulging in continual fights, chases and dramatic escapes while exuding manly charm. Jobert shines as his spirited wife, switching from combative to coquettish in less than an instant but collapsing in a swoon if caught out. Smaller roles are well fleshed out, so we continually meet interesting and original characters, while the score by Michel Legrand adds an often ironic period flavour. Recommended!

Bob Taylor Jean-Paul Rappeneau's second feature is not as funny and involving as his first, La vie de château. The French Revolution is the background for love and sword fights, with a veritable Pleiade of French stars: Belmondo, Jobert, Laura Antonelli, Pierre Brasseur, Sami Frey, Michel Auclair (who handles his role very well indeed). There is an amusing subplot involving the Royalist faction that shows the talents of Frey and Antonelli as brother and sister; they are plotting to restore the Prince to the throne, if only they can get their tangled emotions in order.It's a lovely production: cinematography excellent, set design wonderful (Alexander Trauner), actors very enthusiastic, yet it seems to go on a bit longer than its ninety minutes.

dbdumonteil Pleasant harmless adventures in costume during the French Revolution (L'an II is 1793).The first half is my favorite ,for it features Italian beauty Laura Antonelli whose photo romances I had read a few years before.There's also a very good score by Michel Legrand (who else?) and a splendid cinematography by Claude Renoir.The story is pleasant : a raider (Belmondo) comes to back from Canada to find that his wife (Marlene Jobert) is wooed by two nobles."Divorce" was a new word in the French vocabulary.Patrick Dewaere,who was about to become one of the most popular actors of the French seventies ,appears as a conscript.

kleiner_fuchs Jean-Paul Belmondo and Marlène Jobert star as a very memorable loving couple: In the beginning, we see them as children running through a snow-covered wood, teasing each other. Many years later, when husband Belmondo comes back from America to divorce his wife Jobert, they still act like children, who show their mutual affection by fighting, teasing and slapping each other. The relationship of our protagonists is mirrored by the incestuous and equally ardent love between a nobleman and his sister (played by the beautiful Laura Antonelli).Belmondo, certainly not a great actor, is perfect in this film, because he plays not a "hero", but someone who often can't act but simply has to react, with a blank and uncomprehending face, to the strange events that take place around him (for example, there is one scene in court where he is sentenced to death within minutes). I have seen this film many times and am still amazed by the sheer pace of it. The script is brilliant and one of its most beautiful features is the triptych-like structure (curiously, about at the same time Stanley Kubrick made his own triptych masterpiece "A Clockwork Orange"): First the prologue, then the first part leading to the centerpiece and climax of the film, then the third part being a mirror image of the first, dissolving with a stylish transition to the short and sweet epilogue, that in itself is a mirror image of the prologue: Although many years have passed, nothing has really changed. "Les Mariés de l'an II" is a poetic film about an endless childhood.