Le Matelot 512 (1984)
Directed by René Allio

Film Review

Inspired by the remarkable personal recollections of ninety-year-old Émile Guinde, Le Matelot 512 tells a moving tale of impossible love and survival against the odds that has all the trapping of a classic 19th century French novel.  The stuff of 1930s melodrama (Julien Duvivier's La Bandera (1935) springs readily to mind), the film abounds with charm but is somewhat lacking in substance and must have seemed pretty dated when it first came out in the mid-1980s.

It is a curious departure for its director, René Allio, who had something of a flair for innovation, carrying on the tradition of the French New Wave.  He scored a notable success with his first feature La Vieille dame indigne (1965), and won further acclaim for his follow-up films: L'Une et l'autre (1967) and Les Camisards (1972),  His most radical and memorable film is his hyper-realist 1976 drama, Moi, Pierre Rivière, ayant égorgé ma mère, ma soeur et mon frère, a much more inspired rendition of a hard-to-believe true story.

Le Matelot 512 lacks the ambition and originality of Allio's previous films but it still has a great deal going for it.  Jacques Penot may be somewhat lacking in presence but his understated performance suits the director's low-key approach and arouses our sympathy more successfully than if the part had gone to a starrier actor.  Cast no doubt because of her radiant beauty, Dominique Sanda is an ideal choice for the role of the irresistible femme fatale; her character isn't just the conventional empty cipher, the seductive siren who lures men to their doom, but a real being of immense depth and fragility whom we can readily engage with.

The film's authenticity is also held up by an impressive supporting cast, which includes Bruno Cremer (compellingly morose as ever), Laure Duthilleul and Tchéky Karyo, with Michel Piccoli lending his distinctive voice as the narrator.  Gérard Meylan is also present, some years before he came to be strongly associated with Robert Guédiguian through such films as Marius et Jeannette (1997).  The overall impact of Le Matelot 512 is compromised somewhat by its modest production values and a script that is poorly paced and occasionally lacking in dramatic tension, but Allio's meticulous mise-en-scène and some skilful acting prevent the film from being a disappointment.  It's not a classic but it holds our attention and appeals both to the eye and to the emotions.

Film Synopsis

Marseille, circa 1900.  Max is 18 and thinks of nothing but the sea.  In search of adventure on the high seas, he enlists in the French navy and soon manages to impress his commandant, Roger, with his enthusiasm and commitment.  He begins a love affair with a servant girl, Colette, and she is soon pregnant with his child.  By now, Max has transferred his attentions to another woman, Colette, who happens to be his superior's wife.  Yielding to a powerful mutual attraction, Max and Mireille are soon caught up in the most passionate love affair, both knowing full well what will happen if Roger gets to hear of this betrayal.

Max's problems are compounded a short while later when he is accused of murdering one of his colleagues, a man with whom he had recently had a fierce argument.  Providence comes to the unfortunate sailor's rescue and, with the world thinking he died on board ship in a fire, he enlists in the Foreign Legion, hoping to forget his past loves and woes.   Wounded at the start of the First World War, Max finds himself in a hospital which, to his surprise, is run by the enchantress from whom he had sought to escape, the beautiful Mireille...