Dir. Georges Franju, 1965, 94 min, 35mm
Starring Fabrice Rouleau, Emmanuelle Riva, Jean Servais
Paris, 1914. Polish widow, the Princess de Bormes (a radiant Emmanuelle Riva), appears to live joyously in luxury with her daughter as the country crumbles. But the film, based on Jean Cocteau’s semiautobiographical 1923 novel and co-written by the author, pulls the veil from glamorous life during wartime. The princess is actually going to the front lines to aid wounded soldiers, and when she gets caught, starry-eyed teenager Thomas (Fabrice Rouleau), who’s mistaken as the nephew of a noted general, comes to her rescue. The fantasy-tinged film, narrated by Jean Marais, conveys delusions of reality through two very different yet equally idealistic protagonists.