The Savior (1971)
"Le sauveur" (original title)

This is the Summer of 1943 and the place is rural France. The weather is fine and sunny and life is sweet. On one of these beautiful days, Nanette, a fourteen-year-old peasant girl, meets a... See full summary »

Director:

Michel Mardore

Writer:

Michel Mardore (original scenario, adaptation and dialogue)

Stars:

Horst Buchholz, Muriel Catalá, Hélène Vallier

Cast

Cast overview:
Horst Buchholz	...	Claude
Muriel Catalá	...	Nanette
Hélène Vallier	...	La mère de Nanette
Roger Lumont	...	Le père de Nanette
Henri Vilbert	...	Le conseiller Flouret
Danièle Ajoret	...	Nanette adulte
Michel Delahaye	...	Monnery
Jean-Pierre Sentier	...	Le mari de Nanette
Frédéric Norbert	...	Henri
Yves Hugues	...	Un fils Monnery
Jacques Serres	...	Un fils Monnery (as Jacques Serre)

Storyline

This is the Summer of 1943 and the place is rural France. The weather is fine and sunny and life is sweet. On one of these beautiful days, Nanette, a fourteen-year-old peasant girl, meets a slightly injured young man near the farm she lives on. Named Claude, he claims to be an English paratrooper, sent there to organize resistance to the Nazis. Although her parents have taught her to worship Pétain and the Germans and hate the English, Nanette accepts to hide him in the attic. Day after day she brings him food and cares for him. It does not take long before she falls in love with him and discovers the ecstasy of physical love. But after she has helped Claude to come into contact with the local resistance fighters, he disappears.

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Plot Keywords:

male nudity | male frontal nudity | female frontal nudity | female nudity

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

1 September 1971 (France)

Also Known As:

The Savior

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nadja Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Isabelle Adjani had an audition for the leading female role, Nanette. Until the first day of filming, producers and directors were still hesitating between 'Muriel Catala' and her.

User Reviews

A shocking war movie. Reminds of Verhoeven's Flesh & blood

This strange, bold movie takes place in France during World War 2. A young and innocent girl (Muriel Catala) finds a wounded soldier (Horst Buchholz) and provides him food and help, hiding him in the cellar of her parents' farm. Soon, a strange bond will unite those two, before the soldier reveals his true nature...

The sexual tension between the girl and the soldier may shock some people, but it's just a piece of a bigger picture, as the movie turns out to show the manipulative characters looming to an atrocious ending, one of the most disturbing display of immorality ever put on screen. Not for everyone, but the movie is clearly worth a watch, if only for its rarity.