Uranus (1990)

After World War II, a small French village struggles to put the war behind as the controlling Communist Party tries to flush out Petain loyalists. The local bar owner, a simple man who ... See full summary »

Director:

Claude Berri

Writers:

Marcel Aymé (novel), Claude Berri,

Stars:

Michel Blanc, Gérard Depardieu, Jean-Pierre Marielle

8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michel Blanc	...	René Gaigneux
Gérard Depardieu	...	Léopold Lajeunesse
Jean-Pierre Marielle	...	Archambaud
Philippe Noiret	...	Watrin
Gérard Desarthe	...	Maxime Loin
Michel Galabru	...	Monglat
Danièle Lebrun	...	Mme Archambaud
Fabrice Luchini	...	Jourdan
Daniel Prévost	...	Rochard
Yves Afonso	...	Le brigadier
Myriam Boyer	...	Mme Gaigneux
Dominique Bluzet	...	Michel Monglat
Florence Darel	...	Marie-Anne Archambaud
Ticky Holgado	...	Mégrin, l'avocat
Josiane Lévêque	...	Andréa Lajeunesse

Storyline

After World War II, a small French village struggles to put the war behind as the controlling Communist Party tries to flush out Petain loyalists. The local bar owner, a simple man who likes to write poetry, who only wants to be left alone to do his job, becomes a target for Communist harassment as they try and locate a particular loyalist, and he pushes back.

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Plot Keywords:

world war two | france | collaborator | one word title | based on novel

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

October 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Urano

Filming Locations:

Maringues, Puy-de-Dôme, France

Box Office

Gross:

$342,198 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DD Productions, Films A2, Investimage 2

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in One Hundred and One Nights (1995)

User Reviews

Flawed, but controversial and compelling

WWII left of lots of scars in French memory. Right after the war, all the French were supposed to have been freedom fighters, minus a few baddies of course. Then, slowly, a different truth started to emerge, and since the controversy has been raging on. Uranus, written by Marcel Aymé right after the war, was always controversial, as is this modern adaptation by Claude Berri. In this half-destroyed (by US bombings) French village in 1945, people try to have their lives back, or to save themselves : communists, drunks, sadistic late-hour partisans, former antisemitic hate-mongers, war profiteers... These characters may be too theoretical to be convincing, and of course the permanent blurring of the line between the good and bad guys is too systematic. However, the superior acting and the fact that the movie still manages to raise difficult issues (the general tone is very misanthropic), make it very compelling.