Les Égarés (2003)
Directed by André Téchiné

Film Review

This engaging wartime drama from director André Téchiné is a fine adaptation of the novel "Le Garçon aux yeux gris" Gilles Perrault.  The achingly beautiful photography of the rural setting belies the horror of the period in which the story is set, although we get more than a glimpse of that horror in a shocking sequence near the start of the film.  Les Egarés is not a film about war but about how people learn to cope with new situations and forge new relationships in order to survive and fulfil basic human needs.   Few directors can match André Téchiné's talent for exploring the interactions between men and women, and for portraying this on screen with such sensitivity and depth.   The thoughtful, introspective performances from Emmanuelle Béart and Gaspard Ulliel lend depth and a shade of darkness to the drama, making this one of Téchiné's most memorable and compelling films to date.

Film Synopsis

In June 1940, the German armies are poised to take France when a widowed schoolteacher, Odile, bundles her two infants, Philippe and Cathy, into her car and flees the capital.  The long drive south is interrupted when German fighter planes start firing on the helpless fugitives that are now swelling the roads.  In the attack, Odile and her children lose everything they possess, including their car.  They are lucky to escape with their lives - many others are far less fortunate.  Forced to continue their journey on foot, they find a new friend in Yvan, a 17-year-old youth with a shaven head.  He is reluctant to talk about himself, having lost his own parents just a few weeks ago.  With Yvan's help, the widow and her children find a safe refuge in a deserted country house.  In this tranquil haven, far from the turmoil that has overtaken the civilised world in recent months, Odile manages to make a new nest for herself, although Yvan continues to intrigue her.  Just why is he so reticent about his past...?