Le Bois des amants (1960)
Directed by Claude Autant-Lara

Film Review

For much of his career, Claude Autant-Lara had the distinction of being the most controversial French film director of his time.  Just before he made what he considered his most daring film, Tu ne tueras point, he released Le Bois des amants, one of his lesser known war-time dramas.  The film tells the story of an impossible love affair between a French resistance member and a married German woman, who manage to snatch a few moments of happiness whilst being conflicted by their sense of duty.

The period of Nazi occupation was one of Autant-Lara's favourite subjects and features prominently in many of his films, most notably the classic comedy La Traversée de Paris (1956).  Four years on from this highpoint there is no doubt that the director's golden period of the 1950s is already behind him.  This cruel, disillusioned fable on a familiar theme is clearly a lesser work; it lacks sparkle and much of the dialogue is uninspired; yet, in common with the bulk of this maverick director's work, it is not without interest, particularly as it offers a sombre reflection on one of France's bleakest periods.  As in the case of two other films that Autant-Lara made around this time, Les Régates de San Francisco (1960) and Vive Henri IV... vive l'amour! (1961), Le Bois des amants suffered badly at the hands of the critics and the proponents of the Nouvelle Vague, who saw the film as stilted and dated.

Whilst the film is let down somewhat by its screenwriting, it does have some artistic strengths.  In particular, it is beautifully photographed, as you would expect for a director with a keen visual flair and eye for detail.  This is most apparent in two remarkable scenes: the one depicting Christmas Eve at the Kommandantur, and the one set in the church, where we hear the mechanical pounding of the German soldiers' boots as they pass by outside.  Despite an impressive reconstruction of a Breton village, Autant-Lara was criticised for relying too heavily on the studios instead of making use of real exterior locations, although this appears not to be diminish the dramatic authenticity of the film's key scenes. 

Heading an impressive cast is a young Laurent Terzieff, well-chosen to play an ironic resistance member who makes the cardinal sin of falling in love with the enemy.  The part of the German wife is convincingly portrayed by the Austrian actress Erika Remberg (who was seen the same year in Sydney Hayers' Circus of Horrors), although Romy Schneider might have been a better casting choice on account of her innocence and vulnerability. The extraordinary Françoise Rosay (who had previously served Autant-Lara well on L'Auberge rouge) is far better suited to play the innkeeper, giving the character the backbone and melancholy the part demands.  Gert Fröebe's German officer may veer towards caricature but the actor brings authenticity and depth to his portrayal, whilst Horst Frank makes his mark as a larger-than-life SS colonel.

In Le Bois des amants, Claude Autant-Lara attempts to combine the two main themes of his earlier masterpieces: forbidden love (Le Diable au corps) and the Nazi Occupation (La Traversée de Paris).  The result may appear slight when compared with the other films the director made during his remarkable career but it is nonetheless an engaging and humane drama, sensitively portrayed by a distinguished cast and exquisitely photographed.  The film is now available on DVD but the distributors have omitted to subtitle the German dialogue, making several scenes in the film unintelligible to a non-German speaking audience.

Film Synopsis

Brittany, Christmas 1943.  Herta von Stauffen, a German soldier, makes an attempt to join her husband, Colonel von Stauffen, whom she has not seen since their wedding day.  But Von Stauffen has orders to celebrate Christmas with his troops and so Herta is sent to the house of the widow Parisot, an old woman who regards Herta as an enemy because she is a German.  That evening, a Frenchman lands by parachute in the nearby woods.  His mission is to prepare for an attack by British soldiers.  This man is Charles, the son of Madame Parisot, whose home offers a natural hiding place.  Neglected by her husband, Herta begins to fall in love with Charles.  Events take an explosive turn when Colonel Von Stauffen gives the order for the mysterious parachutist to be found...