''Captain Conan'' (original title: ''Capitaine Conan'') is a 1996 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, s ...

. It is based on the 1934

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

-winning novel ''Captain Conan'' (Fr. ''Capitaine Conan'') by Roger Vercel.

Plot

In the French infantry on the Macedonian front during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Conan, an officer of the elite

Chasseurs Alpins The ''chasseurs alpins'' ( en, Alpine Rangers) are the elite mountain infantry force of the French Army. They are trained to operate in mountainous terrain and in urban warfare. History France created its own mountain corps in the late 19th ...

, is the charismatic leader of a special squad, many from military prisons, who raid enemy lines at night taking no prisoners. Despising career soldiers, his only friend is the young academic Norbert. When the Armistice with Bulgaria is signed in September 1918, his unit is sent to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, capital of France's ally

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, as part of the

Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War or Allied Powers intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions which began in 1918. The Allies first had the goal of helping the Czechoslovak Leg ...

. Neither fighting nor demobilised, morale plummets and courts-martial begin. After a successful defence, Norbert is coerced into becoming the prosecutor by the threat that, if he does not, Conan will be charged. In a brutal raid on a crowded nightclub, some of Conan's men seized the takings, crippling a female singer and killing the female cashier. With the help of the Romanian police and a French prostitute, Norbert finds the men but gets them light sentences. A widow arrives from France looking for her son, whom she finds awaiting trial for desertion. After listening to her story, Norbert thinks that the boy may be blameless and that his officer is out to get him shot. Conan, who hates the officer, agrees and takes Norbert over the old front line where the boy got lost in action. Both become convinced of his innocence. Fighting breaks out again when the French move up to the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

and come under attack from the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

. During the action, Conan empties the prison and leads his men to one final victory. In a sombre coda, years later back in France, Norbert visits Conan to find him no longer the dashing hero but the sick owner of a little shop.

Cast

* Philippe Torreton: Conan *

Samuel Le Bihan Samuel Le Bihan (born 2 November 1965) is a French actor, known for his role in '' Brotherhood of the Wolf''. Selected filmography Film * 1993: , directed by René Féret * 1993: , directed by René Féret * 1993: ' (''Three Colours: Red''), ...

: Norbert *

Bernard Le Coq Bernard Le Coq (born 25 September 1950) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than one hundred and fifty films since 1967. His first big role Bernard Le Coq has played as Annie Girardot's son and Claude Jade's brother in the family dra ...

: Lieutenant de Scève * Catherine Rich : Madeleine Erlane *

François Berléand François Berléand (; born 22 April 1952) is a French actor. He plays Gilles Triquet, the officer manager and equivalent of David Brent in ''Le Bureau'', the French version of ''The Office'', produced by Canal+. He also appeared in the 2002 fil ...

: Commandant Bouvier *

Claude Rich Claude Rich (8 February 1929 – 20 July 2017) was a French stage and screen actor. He began his career in the theater before his film debut in 1955. Personal life He married actress Catherine Renaudin on 26 June 1959. They had two daughters, ...

: General Pitard de Lauzier *

Cécile Vassort Cécile Vassort (born 2 June 1941) is a French film actress. She has starred in 45 films between 1963 and 2001. Partial filmography * ''A Woman in White'' (1965) - La jeune mère * '' Is Paris Burning?'' (1966) - Une jeune femme (uncredited) * ...

: Georgette *

André Falcon André Falcon (28 November 1924 – 22 July 2009) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1954 to 2008. Filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Falcon, Andre 1924 births 2009 deaths ...

: Colonel Voirin * Claude Brosset: Father Dubreuil * Crina Muresan: Ilyana *

: Georgette *

François Levantal François Levantal (born 14 October 1960) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than one hundred films since 1986. Filmography Theater Music videos External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Levantal, Francois 1960 births Living people F ...

: Forgeol * Pierre Val: Jean Erlane * Roger Knobelspiess: Major Cuypene *

Frédéric Pierrot Frédéric Pierrot (born 17 September 1960) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than 120 films and television shows since 1986. He starred in the film '' Tell Me I'm Dreaming'', which was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the ...

: Conductor * Jean-Claude Calon: officier Loisy * Laurent Schilling: Beuillard * Jean-Yves Roan: Rouzic * Philippe Héliès: Grenais * Tonio Descanvelle: Caboulet * Eric Savin: Gunsmith * Olivier Loustau: Mahut * Jean-Marie Juan: Lethore * Laurent Bateau: Perrin, soldier * Eric Dufay: Lieutenant Fideli * Philippe Frécon: Ménard, the cook * Patrick Delage: Messinge, the waiter * Patrick Brossard: Riquiou * Yvon Crenn: Floch * Christophe Odent: Cabanel * Franck Jazédé: Havrecourt * Dominique Compagnon: Morel *

Frédéric Diefenthal Frédéric Diefenthal (born 26 July 1968 in Saint-Mandé Saint-Mandé () is a high-end commune of the Val-de-Marne department in Île-de-France in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is one of t ...

: sergeant gare Bucarest * Luminiţa Anghel: singer in a bar * Radu Duda: Insp. Stefanesco

Reception

The film has two out of three fresh reviews on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, even though there are more reviews listed. Janet Maslin, of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', said that Mr. Torreton powerfully embodies the film's central questions of what a fighter becomes without combat and where the values inherent in savage battle may lead. Ken Fox, of

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

, said beautiful as it is brutal and that it is one of the best war films of recent years. Alex Albanese, of Box Office, said that the film is finely wrought—as hard, precise and heartbreaking as its title character.

Awards and nominations

Bertrand Tavernier won the

César Award for Best Director This is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Director (French: ''César du meilleur réalisateur''). History Superlatives Winners and nominees 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple wins and nomination ...

and Phillippe Torreton won the

César Award for Best Actor This is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Actor (french: César du meilleur acteur). History Superlatives Winners 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Multiple wins and nominations The following indivi ...

. The film was also nominated for six other

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

including

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, Best Writing and Most Promising Actor. The film was nominated for Film Presented at the

Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022. History First held on 30 August 1974, t ...

DVD release

The DVD is in French with English subtitles,

widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...

, and has a 2.0-channel PCM audio mix. The only special feature on the DVD is ''Un Film Sur Bertrand Tavernier'', a fifty-four-minute documentary about the making of the film. The release date of the DVD was December 19, 2000.

References

External links

* * * {{Bertrand Tavernier 1996 films Films directed by Bertrand Tavernier French war films 1990s French-language films Romanian-language films World War I films set on the Eastern Front Russian Civil War films Films set in 1918 Films whose director won the Best Director César Award 1990s war films 1990s English-language films 1990s French films