Fort Saganne
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Fort Saganne |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1984 |
| length | 180 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alain Corneau |
| script | Alain Corneau, Louis Gardel , Henri de Turenne |
| production |
Samuel Bronston , Albina du Boisrouvray |
| music | Philippe Sarde |
| camera | Bruno Nuytten |
| cut |
Thierry Derocles , Robert Lawrence |
| occupation | |
| |
Fort Saganne is a French war film about the colonial era with Gérard Depardieu , Philippe Noiret and Catherine Deneuve from 1984. The literary model is the novel of the same name by the French author Louis Gardel .
action
Three years before the outbreak of World War I , the young and courageous farmer Charles Saganne joins the French army. He is stationed in the Sahara , where he does his service under the noble Colonel Dubreuilh and fights against rebellious tribes. After a short time he proved himself to be a brave soldier with leadership qualities, thus gaining the respect of his comrades and the local population. He feels increasingly drawn to Madeleine, the daughter of a local administrator.
After a fight with a rebellious nomad tribe, Charles finds Amajar, the living leader of the tribe, among the bodies. This is badly injured in the leg and threatens to die. Charles amputates his leg and saves Amajar's life. As a celebrated hero, Charles is sent on a diplomatic mission to Paris , where he begins a passionate affair with the journalist Louise, but fails to bring the concerns of the French colony in North Africa to the politicians. Back in the Sahara, he writes letters to Louise regularly and in them expresses his love for her. With daring military maneuvers against Sultan Omar, he trumps his previous successes and receives the Legion of Honor , the highest ranking award in France .
Charles eventually marries Madeleine, who has since become a fine lady of society. After his stationing period, he moves with her to his home village, where he buys a house that he dreamed of as a young boy. The peaceful idyll only lasts for a short time. When the First World War broke out in 1914, Saganne went to war again. Shortly before he has to go to the front, he meets Louise, who has made herself available as a nurse. They hug and Charles tells her that he's married now. When asked by Louise, he admits that he loves her more than his wife. They kiss and Louise tells him that she wants a child from him. At that moment a soldier appears. Charles can't stay any longer and eventually goes to the front. He is badly wounded in a battle. In the hospital, a nurse brings him a few letters and reads them to him. However, he no longer overhears the news that his wife is expecting a child. He is dead and, given the lack of coffins, is to be buried in a mass grave. In 1922 the fort in which he was stationed in the Sahara was renamed “Fort Saganne” in his honor. Madeleine and her son, whom she named after his father Charles, attend the celebrations. From a distance they are watched by Amajar.
background
The film adaptation of the novel of the same name (1980) by Louis Gardel , who described the life of his grandfather in it, was one of the most expensive film productions in France at the time. The shooting took place in Abbaye du Moncel in the French Département Oise , in Morocco and in Mauritania , where the "Fort Saganne" was built especially for the film and where ruins of the film set can still be seen today. The costumes were designed by Rosine Delamare and Corinne Jorry .
Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve had previously played together several times, for example in François Truffaut's The Last Metro (1980), Claude Berris The Men I Loved (1980) and in Alain Corneau's gangster film Choice of Arms (1981).
Fort Saganne premiered in France on May 11, 1984 . In Germany , the film has not been published.
Reviews
Variety came to the conclusion that Alain Corneau's film was "often beautiful to look at in its large-scale reconstruction of an era and its culture", but that it "appeared weak in his attempts to embed the multi-layered characters in its wide screen format". The biggest weak point, however, lies “in the representation of Depardieu's love affairs”. His "short but intense affair with guest star Catherine Deneuve" lacks "fire and depth". In addition, Sophie Marceau is “far too little to see to make a notable impression as a young middle-class girl”.
According to Eleanor Mannikka of the All Movie Guide , “the costumes, the scenery, the battles and the charisma of Depardieu as Saganne and Noiret as Colonel Dubreuilh are outstanding”. Also, “several supporting actors would have delivered emotionally captivating performances”, but “the protagonists as an ensemble remain rather pale, so that the three-hour epic seems a bit too long at the end”.
Awards
At the 1985 César Awards , the film was nominated for the César in the categories of Best Cinematography , Best Costumes , Best Actor (Gérard Depardieu) and Best Sound , but ultimately failed to prevail against the competition.
German version
The German dubbed version was created by Arena Synchron GmbH , Berlin. Boris Tessmann was responsible for the dialogue book and direction .
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Charles Saganne | Gérard Depardieu | Manfred Lehmann |
| Dubreuilh | Philippe Noiret | Friedrich G. Beckhaus |
| Louise | Catherine Deneuve | Rita Engelmann |
| Madeleine de Saint-Ilette | Sophie Marceau | Nicolette Röwekamp |
Web links
- Fort Saganne in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Pictures of the film on cinema.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Fort Saganne . In: Variety , 1984.
- ↑ “Alain Corneau's film […] is often fine in its large-scale reconstruction of a time and place and a mentality, but falters in its attempts to inscribe well-detailed characters in its wide-screen canvas. [...] Film is weakest in describing Depardieu's romantic relationships. His brief but intense affair with special guest star Catherine Deneuve […] lacks fire and poignancy. And young Sophie Marceau gets insufficient screen time to make any impression as the young bourgeois girl. " See Fort Saganne . In: Variety , 1984.
- ↑ “Even though the costuming, landscape, battles, and charisma of Depardieu as Saganne and Noiret as Colonel Dubreuilh are outstanding, and several subsidiary characters deliver emotionally compelling vignettes, the protagonists as an ensemble have not been scripted with much depth of character - making the three-hour epic seem a bit too long in the end. " Eleanor Mannikka, cf. omovie.com
- ↑ Fort Saganne. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on August 2, 2018 .