Week-end à Zuydcoote (1964)

Director:

Henri Verneuil

Writers:

François Boyer (writer)
Robert Merle (novel)

Release Date:

18 December 1964 (France)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

Set during World War II, and stuck on the beaches near Dunkirk, Julien Maillat tries to join England by boat with the English Army...

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | French Army | Car Wreck | Steel Helmet | Uniform

Cast

Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Julien Maillat
Catherine Spaak	...	Jeanne
Georges Géret	...	Pinot
Jean-Pierre Marielle	...	Pierson
Pierre Mondy	...	Dhéry
Marie Dubois	...	Hélène
Christian Barbier	...	Paul
François Guérin	...	Le lieutenant pressé
Kenneth Haigh	...	Atkins
Ronald Howard	...	Robinson
Jean-Paul Roussillon	...	La gouape / Blackguard
Albert Rémy	...	Virrel
Nigel Stock	...	Un soldat brûlé
Pierre Vernier	...	Un soldat
Alan Adair

Also Known As:

Weekend at Dunkirk (UK) (USA)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Company:

Paris Film Productions

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ladri di saponette (1989)

Professor Robert Merle passed away in 2004

17 Feb 2008

I have just discovered that my revered Professor Robert Merle had passed away in 2004, and I feel a pinch in my heart.

He taught English Literature at the Paris University. He wrote his PhD thesis on Oscar Wilde and made some astounding revelation and discoveries, at that time. But he taught us also Shakespeare, Jane Austen, etc. My love of Austen' s novels come from sitting at his lectures.

At the beginning of WWII, Prof. Merle fled the debacle of the French Army; on the beach of Dunkirk he managed to get himself on the English boat that took him to free London, and this true story his very well depicted in "Weekend at Zuydcoote", which is a true biographical story, and very well played by Jean-Pierre Belmondo. I must say that he was twice taken prisoner by the Germans and interned in POW camps, from which he tried to escape. He told us, I remember very well, that we should be aware of sleeping on concrete slabs, but sleeping on wood was quite healthy. I did remember this good advice 20 years later...

He was a strong supporter of the Algerian Ben-Bella, who was of course murdered in a plane crash : if a man loves his country and wants the best for it, he should be killed.....

The late Professor Robert Merle, the tremendous author of "The Day of the Dolphin", and others, was a great lecturer; I will always remember his jokes, good humor and immense knowledge of the English Literature.

I am sad he is gone; I feel a slice of my youth is gone with him, even though I do have all the softening memories.