Memoir of War (2017)

Marguerite must navigate through the hardships of the Liberation after losing her husband and starting a relationship with the enemy during the War.

Director:

Emmanuel Finkiel

Writers:

Marguerite Duras (novel), Emmanuel Finkiel (adaptation)

Stars:

Mélanie Thierry, Benoît Magimel, Benjamin Biolay

15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mélanie Thierry	...	Marguerite Duras épouse Antelme
Benoît Magimel	...	Pierre Rabier
Benjamin Biolay	...	Dionys Mascolo
Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet	...	François Mitterrand - alias François Morland
Emmanuel Bourdieu	...	Robert Antelme
Anne-Lise Heimburger	...	Mme Bordes
Patrick Lizana	...	Georges Beauchamp
Shulamit Adar	...	Madame Katz
Joanna Grudzinska	...	Thérèse
Caroline Ducey	...	La cliente du restaurant Saint-Georges
Salomé Richard	...	Une femme au rapatriement à Orsay
Olivier Veillon	...	Un camarade du réseau
Bertrand Schefer	...	Un camarade du réseau
Mathias Labelle	...	Un camarade du réseau
Nathan Gabily	...	Un camarade du réseau

Storyline

June 1944, France is still under the German occupation. The writer and communist Robert Antelme, major figure of the Resistance, is arrested and deported. His young wife Marguerite Duras, writer and resistant, is torn by the anguish of not having news of her and her secret affair with her comrade Dyonis. She meets a French agent working at the Gestapo, Pierre Rabier, and, ready to do anything to find her husband, puts himself to the test of an ambiguous relationship with this troubled man, only to be able to help him. The end of the war and the return of the camps announce to Marguerite Duras the beginning of an unbearable wait, a slow and silent agony in the midst of the chaos of the Liberation of Paris.

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Plot Keywords:

female protagonist | voice over | voice over narration | cigarette smoking | year 1944 | 

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Taglines:

From the Life of Marguerite Duras, Bestselling Authout of The Lover

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

France Belgium Switzerland

Language:

French

Release Date:

17 August 2018 (USA)

Also Known As:

Memoir of War

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,653, 19 August 2018, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$103,636, 13 December 2018

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinéfrance 1888, Cinéfrance Plus, Les Films du Poisson

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (as Dolby 5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of France for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 91st Academy Awards in 2019.

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Connections

References The Great Dictator (1940)

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Soundtracks

J'attendrai
Music by Dino Olivieri

User Reviews

A near death experience

SUM UP : you read the book and liked it ? -> GO see the movie! Not read or read and not liked? -> GO see another movie!

STORY The story is about a wife that has no information about the return of her husband that went to war. So she tries to find out what happend to him.

NOTHING BUT PAIN The film is full of pain, and is very slow, just l ike the book I heard. I would say that, while the crew might have done a great job turning the book into a move, the movie was not enjoyable: I go to movies to feel emotions, and I did not feel any but pain in this one. I had to leave the movie after 1H30 min because I was just losing my time.

RATING 4 because the cast was nice, and as said, the crew did a fine job given the book..