Notre Salut
Based on the wartime correspondence between director Emmanuel Marre’s great-grandparents, this serious, complex and often challenging film was awarded best screenplay at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Swann Arlaud is excellent as Henri Marre, a ghostly, hollow figure of a man who becomes an efficient, enthusiastic functionary in Limoges as part of the Vichy regime of Marechal Petain. Letters between him and his wife Paulette (Sandrine Blancke), who initially remains in occupied Paris, paint a vivid picture of daily life in Vichy France and in Paris. Henri has written a book entitled ‘Notre Salut’ (‘Our Salvation’) and believes he will find some kind of personal salvation via the philosophical/political ideas he seeks to contribute to any debate on the survival of France. He works for the Ministry of Unemployment under a regime that seems defined by rules, regulations, bureaucracy, conformity and what often feels like a cosy collaboration with the Nazis. Life and death decisions are just problems that need to be solved. The narrative covers the years from 1940 to the news that the Allies have landed in Normandy when any right-wing nationalist ideas of a powerful Europe under German control are ended. (Subtitles)
France/Italy/Belgium 2026 Emmanuel Marre 148m
