The Widow of Saint-PierreRating:
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The Widow of Saint-Pierre Reviews
A romantic drama with a progressive social conscience
Juliet Binoche demonstrates a steely grace in this French film set in the 1840s Newfoundland. A man commits murder during a night of drunken hyjinks. He's sentenced to the guillotine except for one the remote town of St. Pierre doesn't have the necessary executive device (nicknamed the "Widow"). The town officials send away for one from France (that must be some mail-order catalog they consulted), but in the meantime the convicted man is held in custody by a captain (enigmatically played by Daniel Auteuil) and his wife (Binoche).
*** Binoche's character is progressively-minded, and instead of keeping the convict locked up, she puts him to work helping her with her garden and then with chores around St. Pierre. The townsfolk take a shine to the convict and begin to protest his pending execution.
*** This is an odd little period film with an anti-capital punishment stance. While not entirely surprising, the premise is remains a novelty to behold. You're never quite sure what made the characters who they are, but Binoche and Auteuil are a curiously striking couple and succeed in bringing plausibility to their roles.
Wherefore art thou Juliette?
Wherefore art thou Juliette? In all the good movies, that's where! I just love Juliette Binoche, and in this movie, like her others -- English Patient, Chocolat -- she does not disappoint. I've come to rely on her for not only good acting, but choosing good movies to be in.
Speaking of good acting, Daniel Auteuil as her husband does a fine job as well as the Captain, the man who runs the prison and who has to oversee the execution of a heinous murderer Neel who gutted a neighbor like a cod to see if he was fat or just big?
Sound odd? It's not. The plot, Neel's character growth, and the changing perspective of the town are quite believable. The sentiment is strongly against capital punishment, based on compassion and the ability for people to change. In fact, Neel becomes well-liked and somewhat of a town hero, and goes so far as to bed a widow or two. But in all fairness, if Neel had killed again, then Madame La's compassion would have been quite ill-advised. The movie strives to make a point about capital punishment, and it does achieve that.
The cinematography is beautiful and unique showing off the rugged landscape of Newfoundland. And the costumes are beautiful as well, so beautiful to earn the movie the categorization as a period piece. Such a narrow classification would do this beautfiul movie an injustice, as it offers so much more than costumes.
Highly recommended.
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