gridoon2018 There is nothing really wrong with this popular and prestigious French period movie. It's just that there is also not much about it to make you sit up and take notice. It's perfection on a small scale. At the very least, it does a good job of transporting you to a poor French village in the mid-1500s. And it has great performances by esteemed French actors. But if you have, by any chance, seen the US remake first ("Sommersby"), you already know the answer to the is-he-or-isn't-he? question that is at the center of the movie. I believe if you don't know the answer, you might rate this higher. For me, it's a **1/2 out of 4.

Luther-32 Set in early renaissance Arriege, this movie is truly as masterpiece. Don't be put off by subtitles, just enjoy. Depardieu is superb, one of his best performances...Truly amazing! The story: Bertrande de Rolls's husband, Martin Guerre disappeared sometime ago. She remained faithful, until Arnaud du Tilh, appears and pretends to be the returning Martin Guerre.If, like me, you like both, movies and history, you must watch that masterpiece. The costumes, the settings, the decors, peasant life... all made to recreate a corner of french renaissance countryside.The story is based on facts, on real events. It's a true story, slightly changed and without the catholic-protestant antagonism. What a brilliant movie!!! Like to know more? Read Natalie Zemon Davis'"The return of Martin Guerre"

writers_reign There is, of course, as someone once said, nothing new under the sun and the cynic in me wonders if Janet Lewis, who wrote (in 1982) the novel on which this film is based, was familiar with a British film directed in 1946 by Basil Dearden entitled 'The Captive Heart'. In that film a Czech soldier, Karel Hasek (Micheael Redgrave) assumes the identity of a dead British soldier, Geoffrey Mitchell, in order to survive and when he is sent to a P.O.W. camp he is obliged to correspond with the dead man's wife, Celia (Rachel Kempson) in order to maintain the pretence and gradually via this correspondence they fall in love but when, at the end of the war, Hasek meets Mitchell there is no question of his pretending to be her dead husband. Daniel Vigne has taken the novel by Lewis and adapted it for the screen. By setting it a few centuries in the past both writer and director distance it from The Captive Heart and do so further by depicting the real Martin Guerre in situ with wife Bertande (Nathalie Baye) then, after establishing his indifference to Bertrande he is allowed to abandon her. Years pass and Martin returns in the shape of Gerard Depardieu who is able to assuage doubts about his identity via his wide knowledge of both Bertande and the neighbors. There's not a great deal of suspense, it's fairly obvious that Depardieu is NOT the Martin Guerre who left the village but Vigne is more concerned with illustrating that Good can come out of Bad; living with Depardieu Baye is much more happy than when living with the real Martin and the faux Martin also proves a much better neighbor so it's just a question of waiting for the bubble to burst and wonder if hope will triumph over knowledge (no such luck) and the lovers will be allowed to live happily ever after. Both Depardieu and Baye turn in first class jobs and the period setting is well photographed. If not exactly a 'must-see' it is well worth seeing.

stevecs OK. This is not a remake of "carrefour", as many may think. This is the actual story, on which carrefour was based, from 16th century France, it just happens to have been transferred to film after the other adaptation. Go read the book if you're at all interested, it's by Janet Lewis and is called "The Wife of Martin Guerre". The story is based on court documents among other things, and the character names in this film are those of the actual people. Don't get confused- carrefour may have been made before this film, but this is the closer adaptation and, thus, should not be labeled a remake.