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THE WIDOW OF ST. PIERRE Send This Review to a Friend
The engrossing French import "The Widow of St. Pierre" is not only a blast against capital punishment. It is a salute to standing up for one's beliefs no matter the cost and an attack on the sort of narrow-mindedness and vengeance which government officials can invoke. Although the story is at times unbelievable, the acting and the mood established, as well as the issues raised, add to the drama's potency.
The time is 1849, the setting is a bleak, windy Canadian island under French control. Emir Kusturica, who has had a career as a director, this time enacts the role of Neel Auguste, a fisherman who, along with a pal, gets drunk and winds up committing a senseless killing. Neel is condemned to death. His friend is given a prison sentence but dies in a freak accident.
The catch is that the island has no guillotine, France's prescribed method of execution, nor is there an executioner. The officials take steps to import a guillotine and find the man to operate it. But there is no stomach for such punishment among the islanders. Nor is there any on the part of Daniel Auteuil as the captain of the garrison, who is disrespectful of authority to begin with and speaks his mind in confrontations with the island politicos. His wife (Juliette Binoche) takes an interest in the prisoner being held until the sentence can be carried out, and he is recruited to tend her greenhouse. Neel is given freedom to move about, and a heroic act on his part gets the islanders on his side. There is a groundswell of opinion against his execution.
The film, directed by Patrice Leconte from a script by Claude Faraldo, doesn't cheapen itself by involving the wife and the condemned in a torrid affair. An affection develops, and there is obviously some sexual heat simmering, but she is committed to loving her husband and he is supportive of her humanistic efforts to help Neel. The film makes the point that the man to be executed isn't the same person as he was when drunkenness led to his criminal act, and the captain's wife is full of compassion.
The story is rich in atmosphere and the inexorable movement toward the time of doom creates intensity. Perhaps the most callous scene is the depiction of the way in which an immigrant is browbeaten into accepting the secret job of executioner. What is not very believable is the reluctance of the prisoner to escape to freedom when given a fool-proof opportunity and his willingness to return for his execution out of loyalty to his supporters. Nor is the ease with which the captain risks his life convincing.
But the excellent cast goes far toward dispelling such weak spots. Binoche has a much better role than the one for which she is being lauded in "Chocolat." Auteuil, good in virtually everything he does, is excellent in this part too, and Kusturica acts his role with understated strength and dignity.
"The Widow of St. Pierre," certainly an unusual film, has the power to grip an audience. A Lions Gate Films release.
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