Franz (film)
Movie | |
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Original title | Franz |
Country of production | Belgium |
original language | French |
Publishing year | 1972 |
length | 105 minutes |
Rod | |
Director | Jacques Brel |
script | Jacques Brel |
production | Michel Ardan |
music | Jacques Brel and François Rauber |
camera | Paul Michelangéli |
cut | Jacqueline Thiedot |
occupation | |
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Franz is a film by Jacques Brel from 1972. It is the directorial debut of the Belgian chansonnier and actor. It's about a man's unspoken love for a woman.
action
The setting is a family pension in the Belgian seaside resort of Blankenberge . Léon (Brel), who has a strong bond with his mother, is recovering from an injury to his leg. Léon communicates with his mother every day by carrier pigeon. One day two new guests arrive at the pension: Catherine (Danièle Evenou) and Léonie (Barbara). Catherine is pretty, elegant and funny and immediately attracts the attention of the rest of the boarders. Léonie, who Léon falls madly in love with, seems to be the more reserved of the two. Léon's awkward approaches to Léonie amuse the boarders, Léon becomes the target of their evil jokes. Finally, Léon's mother (Simone Max) turns up at the guesthouse and destroys her son's relationship with Lèonie, which had not yet budged. In the end, the completely desperate non-swimmer Léon plunges into the waters of the North Sea with suicidal intent. The last scene shows Léonie, who is greeted by her family at the end of her stay at the train station: her husband and daughter are standing on the platform.
Meaning and reception
"Franz" was filmed in the summer and autumn of 1971 on the original location in Blankenberge and was the Belgian contribution to the 1972 Cannes Film Festival . Brels' directorial debut appears in all relevant short biographies, but was rarely performed outside of France and is rarely shown in France itself (e.g. on television). The film is considered a rarity among Brel fans and was well received by the critics at the time of its release, but failed at the box office, perhaps because it is too caught up in the “poetic cosmos” of Brel.
Web links
- Franz in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Franz (1971) Description of the contents in French.