On the eve of World War II four Parisians cope with the impending invasion of their city by German forces. While the French government braces for impact, the intersected lives of a young writer, a vain movie star, a French politician and a young scientist are examined as they attempt to deal with war and evade German spies.
Acting
Adjani's vanity is a weapon; Depardieu's cowardice is delicious.
Production
1940 Paris recreated with champagne budget and nervous energy.
Direction
Rappeneau juggles six subplots like the world's collapsing.
Director
Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Grégori Derangère
Frédéric Auger
Isabelle Adjani
Viviane Denvers
Gérard Depardieu
Jean-Étienne Beaufort
Virginie Ledoyen
Camille
Yvan Attal
Raoul
Peter Coyote
Alex Winckler
Jean-Marc Stehlé
Professor Kopolski
Aurore Clément
Jacqueline de Lusse
Xavier de Guillebon
Brémond
Édith Scob
Mme Arbesault
Michel Vuillermoz
M. Girard
Nicolas Vaude
Thierry Arpel
Pierre Diot
Maurice / Studio Guard
Pierre Laroche
The Scholar
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rappeneau hadn't directed in six years; this was his comeback to the screwball tradition of his 1995 hit 'The Horseman on the Roof.'
The film deliberately echoes 1930s French 'poetic realist' cinema—existential dread dressed in gorgeous fatalism, but played for anxious laughs.
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