Un long dimanche ...

Today was the perfect day to go see Un long dimanche de fiançailles - it is Sunday and the first day of spring with spring still not being quite here just yet. On my way home, I had time to leisurely reflect on the film over one of Bach's French Suites, performed by Glenn Gould.

The movie is a story of detection, built on a love story which is set against the gruesome background of the trenches of the Great War. The storyline is handled brilliantly, with just a touch of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot - in fact, even the detective is there. The production is extraordinary - although it blatantly romaticises 1920ies France, it does do so in a stylish and sensitive way with warm sepia tones everywhere. Even the war scenes, despite of not being romanticised, are broken to us relatively gently by narration. And it wouldn't be a Warner production without a happy ending ...

However, there is one issue that I am not comfortable with. I doubt whether it is in good taste to construct a harmonic, romantic love story directly on the tombs of the madness of WWI. Yet, being Swiss and, to my knowledge, not having lost any family members in any of the wars of the last century, I must abstain from passing judgement on this matter. If the movie is acceptable in France & Germany alike, then I am more than happy to see the issue behind us.