Safe Conduct
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: B-
Filmmaking under pressure is a common story, but when it
is life and death, everything takes on a deeper meaning. Bertrand Tavernier’s Safe Conduct
(2002, aka Laissez-passer) attempts to be an epic about how filmmakers
in France managed to survive under the Nazi Occupation and still function as
filmmakers. However you speak it, the
title ironically refers to having to walk on eggs, especially if you are part
of one of the targeted groups who happen to be making film.
The action takes place at the Continental Studios, where
the Nazis are slowly-but-surely taking over the ideology of all the films being
made. The films have to go through more
and more political scrutiny and then committees. Jean-Devaivre (Jacques Gamblin) is an assistant director on the
way up, but is secretly part of the Resistance. Jean Aurenche (Denis Podalydes) also has much contempt for the
Nazis and is determined not to help them further their propagandist goals. Together, they become the moral center for
the secret fight for the soul of the studio.
This is good and intriguing, but Tavernier (in the
screenplay he co-wrote with Jean Cosmos and with input from the real
Jean-Devaivre) goes the long way in telling the inside story. The problem is that some of this becomes
predictable and drags, while other segments do not go far enough, considering
it is the Nazis we are dealing with. At
163 minutes, that is not easy to do consistently, but Tavernier is determined to
capture every detail he feels will work in painting the time and the situation
out to its fullest. That is ambitious,
but some of it sadly backfires. Though
not a great triumph, if you have more patience than usual, Safe Conduct
has its rewards.
The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is a bit dull,
though cinematographer Alain Choquart does go for sepia throughout. There is just al lack of sharpness and
detail that is distracting throughout.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 AC-3 mix is not bad, but it is obvious from a
listen that it is a downtraded DTS mix.
This is confirmed by the end credits that show the film was exclusively
issued in DTS. Too bad this DVD did not
have those tracks, because it sounds like a good mix, one of the better to come
out of France in a while. The few
extras include trailers for this and several other Koch Lorber titles,
extensive notes that are informative and a photo gallery.
When this was over, it felt like a good story had been
revealed, yet too much had been left unsaid or unshown. Maybe some of that was intended so the film
could stick to some theme the title suggests.
That is a poor reason to limit your film, but a possibility
nevertheless. I just hope the next time
someone tells more about this story, they will not play it as safe as Safe
Conduct did. Istvan Szabo anyone?
- Nicholas Sheffo
