Please note: Parts IV - VII will be presented Friday, July 19.
This marvelous television drama in seven parts, which follows the story of a rural family during the World War I years, has been likened to a French Berlin Alexanderplatz. For, like Fassbinder, director Maurice Pialat (A Nos Amours, Loulou) worked in close collaboration with his ensemble cast (led by veteran actor Fernand Gravey) to achieve the kind of character embellishment for which the extended duration of a series so richly allows. Filled with fascinating period detail, the story involves a gamekeeper's family who adopt the young son of a divorced couple. The focus is on the children as they learn about youthful love and adult treachery. Not to be missed, if only for its memorable evocation of an era, the series earned Pialat the unofficial title, “father of French television.” Unfortunately the only prints of this series are 16mm prints of less than perfect quality for the large screen.