{"id":27296,"date":"2012-09-12T11:33:56","date_gmt":"2012-09-12T18:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27296"},"modified":"2021-02-04T10:18:13","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T17:18:13","slug":"return-of-martin-guerre-the-1982","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27296","title":{"rendered":"Return of Martin Guerre, The (1982)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Never was a husband so maligned!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Poster-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-27301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Poster-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Poster-82x128.jpg 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Poster.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nIn 16th century France, a young man named Martin Guerre (St\u00e9phane Pean) leaves his wife (Sylvie M\u00e9da) and child to go off to war. Eight years later, a man (Gerard Depardieu) shows up in town and convinces his family and neighbors that he is Martin &#8212; but his uncle (Maurice Barrier) remains skeptical, especially when Martin insists on being paid the profits his land has made during his absence.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Courtroom Drama<\/li>\n<li>French Films<\/li>\n<li>Gerard Depardieu Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li><Mistaken Identities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nBased on an infamous <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Martin_Guerre\">real-life court case<\/a>, <em>The Return of Martin Guerre<\/em> remains one of the most fascinating tales of contested identity in both cinematic and historical memory. Depardieu gives a fine, earthy performance as the man claiming to be Martin Guerre (who may or may not be telling the truth), while Nathalie Baye&#8217;s nuanced portrayal as his abandoned wife (Bertrande) allows us to feel every moment of both her confusion and her tentative joy. The nicely paced script spends just enough time on each facet of the compelling story, moving from Martin and Bertrande&#8217;s earliest years of unhappy marriage, to Martin&#8217;s surprise arrival in town years later, to the brief period of renewed contentment Martin and Bertrande experience before suspicions are raised and Martin is put on trial (first informally, then in court). If you&#8217;ve never seen the film before, or can&#8217;t quite recall how it resolves, you&#8217;re guaranteed to be kept in genuine suspense. Meanwhile, the attention paid to period detail is enough to recommend the film purely from an ethnographic perspective, as we witness the fascinating minutiae of daily life for this village of hardworking, mostly illiterate, but seemingly content peasants. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Gerard Depardieu as Martin Guerre<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Depardieu.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Depardieu.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"368\" height=\"224\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27297\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Depardieu.png 368w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Depardieu-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Depardieu-300x182.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Nathalie Baye as Bertrande<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Baye.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Baye.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"368\" height=\"224\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27302\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Baye.png 368w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Baye-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Baye-300x182.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine attention to period detail<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"368\" height=\"224\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27298\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period.png 368w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period-300x182.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"368\" height=\"224\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period2.png 368w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period2-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period2-300x182.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"368\" height=\"224\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period3.png 368w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period3-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Period3-300x182.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Lovely cinematography by Andre Neau<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"368\" height=\"224\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Cinematography.png 368w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Cinematography-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/Return-of-Martin-Guerre-Cinematography-300x182.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Michel Portal&#8217;s unusual score<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a compelling foreign drama. Listed as a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Foreign Gem<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0084589\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1983\/06\/10\/movies\/martin-guerre.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.digitallyobsessed.com\/displaylegacy.php?ID=2863\">Digitally Obsessed Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/76632\/le_retour_de_martin_guerre.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Never was a husband so maligned!&#8221; Synopsis: In 16th century France, a young man named Martin Guerre (St\u00e9phane Pean) leaves his wife (Sylvie M\u00e9da) and child to go off to war. Eight years later, a man (Gerard Depardieu) shows up in town and convinces his family and neighbors that he is Martin &#8212; but his uncle (Maurice Barrier) remains skeptical, especially when Martin insists on being paid the profits his land has made during his absence. Genres, Themes, Actors, and&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27296\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27296"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68571,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27296\/revisions\/68571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}