Les violons du bal (1974)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Michel Drach

Writer:

Michel Drach (writer)

Release Date:

15 December 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

For many years, filmmaker Michel Drach wanted to tell the story of his childhood during WWII and his family's escape from the occupying Nazis...

Plot Keywords:

WWII | Nazi Occupation

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jean-Louis Trintignant	...	Lui (Michel)
Marie-José Nat	...	Elle (La femme et la mère de Michel) / Michel's wife
Gabrielle Doulcet	...	La grand-mère
David Drach	...	L'enfant
Nathalie Roussel	...	La soeur de Michel / Michel's Sister
Christian Rist	...	Le frère de Michel et le contestataire / Michel's Brother
Yves Afonso	...	Le cameraman
Yvon Yak	...	Le premier producteur
Noëlle Leiris	...	La comtesse
Luce Fabiole	...	La boulangère
Malvina Penne	...	La réfugiée rousse
Paul Le Person	...	Le premier passeur
Guy Saint-Jean	...	Le second passeur
François Leccia	...	Le jeune passeur
Guido Alberti	...	Le producteur italien

Also Known As:

Violins at the Ball

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Company:

Port Royal Films

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976)

Michel Drach's own story

Director MIchel Drach tells here his own story,when he was a child during WW2.The film is a long flashback;Trintignant plays a director (actually Drach)who wants to transfer a screenplay -see above- to the screen.If my memory serves me,cause it's been a long time since I watched this flick for the last time,present scenes are shot in black and white whereas past sequences are in color.

Drach remembers.It was WW2,and Jews were arrested .His mother (played by Drach's then wife Marie-José Nat)had to escape from France and it was not an easy thing to do ,because of her compatriots ' greed.There's a wonderful part of a grand-mother ,marvelously played by Gabrielle Doulcet who tries to explain to her grandson the absurdity of the anti-Semitism.Nat won the best actress prize at the festival de Cannes 1974. Should appeal to people who like films like " Au nom de tous les miens" (story of Martin Gray ,directed by Robert Enrico),"un sac de billes" and of course "the diary of Anne Frank".