La Croix des vivants (1962)
Directed by Ivan Govar

Film Review

Yvan Govar is an unjustly forgotten Belgian filmmaker who specialised in crime dramas that were not always well-crafted - films like Un soir par hazard, Que personne ne sorte, Ce soir on tue and Deux heures à tuer.  On 25 July 1962, Govar released a Franco-Belgian film entitled La Croix des vivants, a psychological drama which is one of his least typical and best works.  A powerful and ambiguous film, it has a somewhat bombastic style in parts but it retains its lyricism throughout.  It is the story of a modern Oedipus whose return to his village triggers an amazing drama of love and hatred, reminiscent of the return of the prodigal son. 

The characters appear to be roving in a kind of Tennesse Williams mindscape, caught up in a suffocating universe that is so redolent of Williams' plays.  The film is extremely well cast and offers some magnificent contributions from such distinguished actors as:  the lovely Pascale Petit, who plays the innocent but sultry Maria; the German actor Karl-Heinz Boehm (Romy Schneider's handsome co-star in the Sissi films), superb as Gus; the Belgian-born poet-actor and Pascale Petit's husband Giani Esposito, fabulous as the mystic and passionate Yan; the incredible icon Madeleine Robinson, perfect as Madame van Dormeck; and the Italian actor Gabrielle Ferzetti, magnificent as the priest Delcourt.  In the supporting parts, we recognize: Alain Cuny a pillar of French cinema from the 1930s to the 1980s; the emblematic actress Marie Dubois; and Roger Dumas.

With the financial support of Warner Brothers, Yvan Govar manages to deliver a lavish production, which is well-scripted by Maurice Clavel and Alain Cavalier.  Alas, the film was a commercial failure and this would blight Yvan Govar's subsequent career.  Some will consider this little gem to be totally outdated, but it is by all accounts an excellent film that definitely deserves to be rediscovered.

Film Synopsis

Some time after he was falsely accused of the murder of his stepfather, Yan returns to his home village in Flanders.  Franz, the local garage owner is not happy with his return.  Before he died, Yan's stepfather was going to give him financial support in the construction of a new racing car and Frantz remains convinced that Yan killed him.  Despite the cool reception he receives, Yan is at least welcomed by two of the villagers, the vicar and his best friend, Gus Van Dorneck, the owner of a thriving timber business.  With the support of Gus and his wealthy mother, Yan finds employment and a chance to start a new life.  Gus has a fiancée, Maria, an Italian beauty who lives at the Van Dorneck house.  Maria is all set to marry Gus when she sees Yan and realises that he is the man for her. One night, whilst alone in Gus' house, Yan yields to Maria's entices, not knowing that in doing so he is betraying his one true friend...