Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This has to be one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is flawless, and the ending is incredible. I think anyone who has doubts about Gerard Depardieu's acting ability would certainly change their mind after viewing this film. This movie transcends language. You forget you are reading subtitles and/or are trying to piece together the an understanding of the plot with what little French you do know. It is that good!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This has to be one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is flawless, and the ending is incredible. I think anyone who has doubts about Gerard Depardieu's acting ability would certainly change their mind after viewing this film. This movie transcends language. You forget you are reading subtitles and/or are trying to piece together the an understanding of the plot with what little French you do know. It is that good!
Rating:
Summary: simply great
Review: This is a very good movie - wonderful acting from everyone involved. Nathalie Baye is beautiful, as is the young Gerard Depardieu. Very touching. To the viewer who had a defective DVD: maybe you should send it back? We bought our DVD from Amazon, and it's just fine. No problems at all with the subtitles.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Depardieu's Best!
Review: This is an excellent period piece. Actually I just wanted to comment on a previous commentor who said the subtitles did not work on the DVD and it was defective. This is not true, I bought a copy and it works fine. DIVX is dead! Hooray.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Film, Defective DVD
Review: What a shame. This is an extraordinary film, but the DVD has been defectively encoded. As a result, the English subtitle option doesn't work. Now matter how many times you select it, it always plays in French without subtitles. Sacre bleu!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Moose Hole - 'The Return' of True Romance
Review: What can history teach us exactly? For starters, it can tell us where humanity, either as separate individuals or as a collective society, has been in the past centuries on this planet, what we are accomplishing now, how we were able to come to this point, and where we might be heading in the near future and how we could avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Though using films set against historical time periods, whether it be our own as Americans or somewhere else in the world, is not exactly a new trend in the college world, more are becoming increasingly aware of the advantages it offers to students in their ability to learn and grasp the subject matter of particular time periods. And even though some of these films discuss events that may not be considered earth-shattering in terms of scope and consequential effects, such as The Return of Martin Guerre, but they still benefits its audience by viewing the lives of the people of that particular period in our past and allowing them in their minds to draw comparisons and contrasts to issues in contemporary Europe and America.
The story for The Return of Martin Guerre remains comparatively true to the source on which the script was based on but it does rely on creative liberties, especially near the end of the film, to keep the romantic theme represented throughout the feature afloat. The most cringing moment in the film, at least for sticklers for historical accuracy, comes when Bertrande reveals to the judge at the end of the film what she had done and why she did it. The real Bertrande, on the other hand, had never made such a confession and there was no evidence in the story to suggest that she ever knew he was not her husband, though there is certainly nothing that would rule it out of the realm of possibility either. Though the answers provided by the film could potentially be the adequate reasons as to why Bertrande did what she did, it does a far greater disservice to the audience then if they had merely concluded the film with the execution of Arnaud. Actually, this action is rather insulting to the intelligence of the audience, insisting that they can not ponder for themselves the possibilities as to why Bertrande would have supported a man who was obviously not her husband and live in perpetual sin and that they need everything placed in front of them on a silver plate.
Bertrande de Rols, performed admirably by the positively radiant Nathalie Baye who truly appears as though she is expanding her beautiful radiance with each scene she is in, is portrayed in the film as a compassionately brave and enduring young woman struggling in a society that offers few options with which to shape her life, offering a relevantly-balanced match to Depardieu's Arnaud de Tihl. Gérard Depardieu is remarkably enjoyable in the role of Arnaud de Tihl, a veteran French soldier who convinces an entire village that he is a man who ran off to war years earlier, even his own wife. Arnaud is a tremendous character fit for only the most skilled of performers, in part to his phenomenal memory and quick-wittedness, something that helps out excessively in court. Without doubt, Depardieu fits the bill perfectly. Not much can be said of Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, who takes on the role of the real Martin Guerre, as he only seen all too briefly early on in the film and then at the very end when he "miraculously" appears at the last minute before the judgment of the case is revealed. But, from what can be seen of him in the film, Donnadieu does an exceptional job presenting a character so emotionally distant from everyone that it is hard to root for him, although you do not get the feeling as though you should totally despise him.
Praise is to be given to the filmmakers for remaining so faithful to the 16th Century time period of the true story and not willing to stray, at least not too often, into attempts at modernization in order to better accommodate the mainstream movie-going public, or those with the money in their pockets. Accuracy ranges from the pristine presentation of the Parlement Court down to both the inside and outside appearances of the villages and towns, the props appropriately used by the characters on screen as if they were truly performing their daily tasks, the costumes they wore, and even the some of the locations in which sequences were set against. Furthermore, the film conscientiously represents the severely limited options of women within the defined time period as opposed to men who merely had to own land in order to wield their power and influence. And though the exploration into the events surrounding the life of Bertrande following the disappearance of her husband, specifically her struggle as a single dishonored mother living in a male-dominated society, is not given as much focus as would be desired, the feeling of remorse and sympathy for the young woman is still felt within the minds of its audience. But this does not mean to say that The Return of Martin Guerre is absolutely perfect in its representation or that is fails to adhere to the temptations of creative liberties.
With what has become quite a standard trend within the realm of the Hollywood film productions, with the inclusion of the foreign releases as well, the characters of the film are seen with a different costume within each new scene they appear in, giving the appearance as though the director is keeping in line with his modern audiences' practices, but, in the historical time period in which it is set, this would have been extremely uncommon even by the standards of the nobility. And whether this was ever the intention of director Daniel Vigne or not, the film's style and presentation often reflects to its audience a medieval-like atmosphere which is not accurate to the time in which the plot was set against. Unless audience members beforehand had previous acknowledgement of what era the romance happened to be set against, the "Middle Ages" would be the obvious conclusion that would be made, thus damaging their historical assessment of the issues involved, though certainly not completely.
Staying in line with our honest assessment of the evening's presentation, it can be said that the experience would have been significantly more engrossing, and therefore increasing the level of intrigue, for all involved had it been decided not to include the use of English subtitles into this version of the classic French film. True, foreign languages are quite a bewildering and complex beast to master no matter who you talk to, but is that not the purpose of attending a university? Should we not be challenging the mind and engage in novel, if not bizarre, experiences for us even if we are to only find failure in our attempts? Students should not be deprived of being entirely enveloped in the true aspirations of the director and its source material. Had they even been unable to decipher a majority of the film's dialogue, they at least would have walked away immersed in a truly sincere experience and could therefore research the time period and story itself on their own time.
Overall, The Return of Martin Guerre successfully bucks the trend of foreign releases being unable to maintain the same level of intensity and enthusiasm crossing the ocean that they had back in Europe and does so with an eloquent flare and style, though subtitles would have been better left out of the final print. And though it certainly lacks what one would consider Sixth Sense-like twists that would have certainly given it a far more exhilarating quality about itself, its enduring sense of romanticism and nostalgic appeal of the country in Europe make it worthy enough of attention. Furthermore, there is hope that the effect of this film on its budding audience members will be enlightened by the roughly two hour experience and will be so inspired that they will become more immersed in the subject matter, and this could very well be that film, though, sadly, it may not be mainstream enough to have any lasting effects.
Rating:
Summary: A great "Film"
Review: What does "Sommersby" have to do with anything of this? If you compare them you are a simpleton.This is a grand movie that uses many film options - watch the grain and contrast of the film stock change - see the lighting and pulled shots. This is a classic "Film." Superb script and acting. Hear the last lines of the narrator. Vigne used all filming options available to him and he used them with taste. Watch closely - this is to be enjoyed on many levels - watch the Father sign in a symbol for the family name and note the son's problem . . . . If one line of this film doesn't stick with you then you just don't get it. Go back to Hollywood drivel.
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