The Guardians (2017)

Women are left behind to work a family farm during the Great War.

Director:

Xavier Beauvois

Writers:

Xavier Beauvois (scenario), Frédérique Moreau (scenario)

Stars:

Nathalie Baye, Laura Smet, Iris Bry

11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nathalie Baye	...	Hortense Sandrail
Laura Smet	...	Solange
Iris Bry	...	Francine Riant
Cyril Descours	...	Georges Sandrail
Gilbert Bonneau	...	Henri Sandrail
Olivier Rabourdin	...	Clovis
Nicolas Giraud	...	Constant Sandrail
Mathilde Viseux	...	Marguerite Sandrail (as Mathilde Viseux-Ely)
Xavier Maly	...	Edgar
Marie-Julie Maille	...	La Monette
Madeleine Beauvois	...	Jeanne, la fille de la Monette
Alain Artur	...	Le maire
Adrien Denizou	...	Le maire de la Monette
Yann Bean	...	John - un soldat américain
Michel Lamy	...	Le père

Storyline

1915. Life at the Paridier farm has changed dramatically since the men of the family (Constant, Georges and Clovis) left home to go and fight on the front line. Hortense Sandrail, Henri and Constant's mother and Clovis' mother-in-law, has taken over courageously but, although helped by her daughter Solange, she finds it hard to get by with all the workload. When harvest time comes, she makes up her mind to hire a farmhand but she is too late and no man is available. The mayor then recommends her an orphan named Francine Riant, who could do. Hortense agrees and the choice soon appears a blessing, as the girl proves perfect: well-mannered and respectful, she is also a hard worker who does not balk at any task. Hortense, Solange and her form an effective trio, who make the most of the situation. One day, Georges comes back to the farm on leave and he falls in love with Francine.

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Plot Keywords:

farm | widows | countryside | ww1 | pregnancy | 

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Taglines:

France 1915. Men on the battlefield. Women on the homefront.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site [France] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Switzerland France Belgium

Language:

French English

Release Date:

4 May 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Guardians

Filming Locations:

Montrol-Sénard, Haute-Vienne, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,479, 6 May 2018

Gross USA:

$177,331

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,167,608

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Worso, Pathé, France 3 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (as Dolby 5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.

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Soundtracks

Amours fragiles
Lyrics by Alexandre Trébitsch
Music by Harry Fragson
(1899)
Sung by Iris Bry in the final ball scene

User Reviews

Strong dramatic film about French Civilians in WWI

The French movie Les Gardiennes (2017) was shown in the U.S. with the translated title The Guardians. It was co-written and directed by Xavier Beauvois . It stars Iris Bry as Francine, an orphan who works at a family farm while the men are at the front in WWI. Nathalie Baye portrays Hortense, a farm matriarch with two sons and a son-in-law away at war. Laura Smet plays Solange, Hortense's daughter. (She actually is Baye's daughter.)

This movie is brilliant in its portrayal of the hard physical labor demanded of farmworkers--male or female--a century ago. Their men suffered terribly in the trenches, but keeping the farm going wasn't a bed of roses.

One interesting theme of the film is that the war demanded machines of war. Some of these machines had civilian utility. When the war begins, horses and oxen pulled the plow. By the end of the war, a tractor would replace them.

The acting in the movie was superb throughout. However, in my opinion, acting honors go to Natalie Baye. Baye was almost 70 when she played this role. When she was young, she was the darling of the French New Wave directors. Her acting skills are obviously intact, and she carries off her role superbly.

We saw this movie at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre. It will work almost as well on the small screen. This movie has an adequate 7.1 IMDb rating. but I think it's much better than that. Don't miss it!