+5
Le Silence de la mer (1949)
I appreciate this movie more now that I'm not watching it. While watching it I was intrigued by it's premise and curious as to where it would go. To be honest after 25 minutes I had to force myself to finish the film. I did finish it and I'm glad I did. Though in the end what I gained from the film was more of an interesting narrative style than anything profoundly deep. Yet to the French audience who had just been subjugated to four years of Nazi occupation this film must have spoken volumes.
I perceive that the film's message is delivered in prose by the uninvited house guest. His is a misguided dream of the occupation. To the officer the occupation is a marriage between Germany and France. Germany is enlightened with an influx of lofty romanticized ideas which are bestowed upon by the subdued French. The officer sees the Germans as saviors of the French, sweeping away their bourgeois capitalist loving government and replacing it with German clockwork efficiency. Only towards the end of the film does the idealistic officer realize that the Nazis have a much more brutal plan in-store for France.
It's the clash of the cultural values between the insect leg pulling Nazis and the idealistic romanticized French. The old man and his niece's refusal to talk to the German officer represents passive resistances to the occupation. These two powerless people do what they can in the face of an overwhelming occupation.
The beauty of the film, call it the pay off, is during the film the audience develops sympathy for the German officer. As misguided as his dreams are he's still a sorrowful character and when he learns the bitter truth of the Nazis the audience is rewarded by the kind gesture of the old man and niece who finally break the silence and bid the officer a farewell.
Last edited by Citizen Rules; 03-17-23 at 02:56 PM.
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