Destinées (1954)
Directed by Christian-Jaque, Jean Delannoy

Film Review

By the mid-1950s, the anthology film had become a popular staple of French cinema, offering audiences the irresistible prospect of watching several short films (usually featuring some of the biggest stars of the day) for the price of one cinema ticket.  Destinées (a.k.a. Daughters of Destiny) is one such film, although it is hardly the best example of its genre as it lacks a strong enough overarching theme to link the component segments together into a satisfying whole.  Also, the massive difference in tone and style between the three segments making up this film jars somewhat. By accident or by design, the result is one of the ungainliest portmanteau films of its kind.

A sombre reflection on the last war, an overblown historical pageant and a ludicrous Greek farce - this is the odd triptych that Destinées serves up for us, with more star power than it knows what to do with.  The film starts on a bafflingly weird note with an introduction from a man in silhouette who claims to be Destiny but then promptly tells us we are the ones who make our own destiny - not the most well-thought out of introductions.  The film begins proper on a dour note with a neorealist excursion to post-war Italy, with Marcello Pagliero directing Claudette Colbert in one of her rare French film outings as a widow hoping to find out something of her husband's last fateful moments, only to find these last fateful moments involved a pretty teenager and a nocturnal frolic in a barn.

Jean Delannoy takes over with the middle section, which is a predictably dry and sober period piece presenting a scene from the life of Joan of Arc.   Despite the fact that Michèle Morgan is at least ten years too old to be convincing as the Maid of Orleans she holds our attention as only she can and makes this the anthology's winning segment, helped by some suitably atmospheric set design and lighting.  The whole thing then goes to pot with a vengeance with the concluding segment, a ludicrous take on an Aristophanes play which director Christian-Jaque and his writer Henri Jeanson completely ruin through a surfeit of crude comedy that is below the standard of the worst Carry On film.  Not even the stunning Martine Carol (overacting for all it is worth) can salvage this comic travesty, although the scene where she and her Attic women's lib cohorts tie an unsuspecting Raf Vallone to a gate at least gets a grudging giggle.  Hard to believe, but not long before this Christian-Jaque directed quite a good portmanteau film - Souvenirs perdus (1950). Whilst it does have a few things going for it, Destinées falls somewhat short of being a satisfying anthology offering.  In fact it is merely a clumsily bolted together collection of ill-fitting sketches that struggle to make an impact individually and collectively look like a disaster.

Film Synopsis

Throughout history, women have had to play their part in war, and in doing so have had to forge their own destinies.  After WWII, an American war widow, Elisabeth Whitefield, undertakes a painful journey to a servicemen's cemetery in Italy to reclaim her husband Tony's body and arrange its repatriation.  Curious to find out more about how her husband met his death at the hands of the Germans, Elisabeth strikes up a friendship with a local Italian woman, Angela, who briefly gave him shelter.  Elisabeth is surprised to find that Angela has a young son that she has named Antonio.  She soon puts two and two together and realises that the boy is the product of a liaison between her husband and the Italian peasant girl.

In April 1430, Joan of Arc is beginning to lose the confidence of her troops and has become doubtful about her divine mission.  Arriving at a farm with her weary army, she finds a mother in a desolate state after her newborn baby died without first having been baptised.  When Joan holds the dead baby, it is briefly restored to life and the baptism can take place.  Joan and her followers see this as a sign that God is still on their side.  Encouraged, they ride on to their next battle, not knowing it will be their last.  In 411 BC, Athens is still prosecuting its seemingly endless war against Sparta.  Having grown tired of this interminable conflict, Lysistrata, the wife of the Athenian general Callias, galvanises opposition to the war amongst the women of the city and together they agree to withhold their husbands' conjugal rights until the fighting is over.  Realising that, given the choice, making love is preferable to making war, the Athenians finally decide the time has come to make peace with Sparta...