The Rays and Shadows
Jean, a French newspaperman, and Otto, a young German Francophile, believe they are working for peace in Europe; the war arrives regardless and reshapes them both past recognition.
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Synopsis
Jean and Otto, a French newspaperman and a young German Francophile, are fighting for peace in Europe. Jean’s daughter, Corinne, is launching a brilliant acting career in the film world, but war breaks out and France is occupied. The two friends have a major role to play in this new France. Jean becomes a big press baron and an ardent advocate of collaboration with the occupying forces, while Otto becomes the Reich’s ambassador in Paris. Corinne, meanwhile, finds herself thrown into the lion’s pit.
Our Review Editorial
Jean, a French newspaperman, and Otto, a young German Francophile, believe they are working for peace in Europe; the war arrives regardless and reshapes them both past recognition. Jean becomes a press baron and an ardent advocate of collaboration, Otto becomes the Reich's ambassador in Paris, and Jean's daughter Corinne, whose acting career is just catching light, is thrown into the lion's pit. Three hours and nineteen minutes of full-blooded historical epic about a friendship rerouted by occupation.
The length is the statement. This is for viewers who want a novelistic war drama with room for politics, ambition and compromise to unfold at their own pace. Expect stately rhythm, moral murk in place of heroes and villains, and a portrait of occupied France in which the most damning choices get made in drawing rooms rather than on battlefields. Anyone who settles happily into long European period pieces will find plenty to hold. Save it for a night with nothing scheduled after it.
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