The Fear (2015)

A young soldier testifies of his thoughts about the first world war, between disillusion, fear and hate, following his path through the letters he sends to his lover.

Director:

Damien Odoul

Writers:

Gabriel Chevallier (novel), Loïc Gaillard (adaptation)

Stars:

Nino Rocher, Pierre Martial Gaillard, Théo Chazal

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nino Rocher	...	Gabriel Dufour
Pierre Martial Gaillard	...	Nègre
Théo Chazal	...	Théophile
Eliott Margueron	...	Bertrand
Frédéric Buffaras	...	Lespinasse
Jonathan Jimeno Romera	...	La Gaufre
Charles Josse	...	Fouchet
Aniouta Maïdel	...	Marguerite
Miro Lacasse	...	Le capitaine
Patrick de Valette	...	Ferdinand
Yarrow Martin	...	Perreault
Amélie Martinez	...	Joséphine
Mathieu Billenne	...	Le caporal-chef
Christophe Cousin	...	Le poilu paysan
Yann Bureau	...	Le vaguemestre

Storyline

A young soldier testifies of his thoughts about the first world war, between disillusion, fear and hate, following his path through the letters he sends to his lover.

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Plot Keywords:

wound | male frontal nudity | title same as book | first person narration | reference to jean jaures | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Did You Know?

Trivia

A big part of that movie was film in Nicolet, a small city in Québec, Canada.

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Connections

Referenced in Captain Sharif: La dernière séance (2017)

User Reviews

Carnage as Poetry in this French WW I Drama

Gabriel, Bertrand and Theophile are all friends who join up in the first wave of war fervour in 1914 and are sent out to fight 'the Bosch'. Gabriel leaves behind his girlfriend Marguerite, and the film is told mostly through him reading the letters that he sends to her.

This is played out as the on screen action unfolds and develops as we are taken through all of the horrors that he and his comrades have to face. There are also some very realistic and upsetting hospital scenes and graphic depictions of the horror of war and the creeping madness that afflicted some of those poor men.

Now this is like poetry in places as the narration flows with a breadth of language that has hidden beauty despite being about some of the most base of things. The period detail and uniforms seemed to be spot on. They start out in their 19th Century uniforms before they realised what a mistake that was and moved on to the blue grey with actual helmets.

There is real filth everywhere and some of the scenes are devastating, especially one of a bombardment. This though is a film that some will baulk at as it is not really a 'war film' but I was transfixed, attracted and repelled in equal measure. It has a run time of 89 minutes but seemed to last a mere handful. The performances are universally excellent and this from writer and director Damien Oduol who brought us the stunningly excellent 'Le Soufflé' and is a supreme talent in my books. This is cinema at its most alluring, upsetting, poetic and stunningly brilliant and is one of the reasons I watch World Cinema – absolutely recommended.

Details

Country:

France Canada

Language:

French

Release Date:

12 August 2015 (France)

Also Known As:

The Fear

Filming Locations:

Nicolet, Québec, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

JPG Films, Tu Vas Voir Productions, Les Productions de la Peur (14-18)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1