The Widow of St. Pierre

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Saint-Pierre on DVD</A>  </div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>The Widow of St. Pierre</B> *** (R)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By George O. Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> If the glove fits, wear it</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Madame La: Juliette Binoche</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Le Capitaine: Daniel Auteuil</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Neel Auguste: Emir Kusturica</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Governor: Michel Duchaussoy</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Judge Venot: Philippe Magnan</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Chevassus: Ghyslain Tremblay</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Director: Patrice Leconte</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="304" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: A guilty man is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Although he rehabilitates himself, the state still wants to execute him. The Captain and his wife, who manage the prison where he is held, become opponents to capital punishment and take a moral stand to save his life.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> Le Capitaine and Madame La (Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche) are a passionately in love couple, who live in French territory, on an island off the coast of Newfoundland. This outpost is a base for fishing fleets and the French Navy. Although the film does not provide the details, it's clear that the Captain has been given an undesirable post for past indiscretions, and Madame La lost the name of an aristocratic family. </div> <bR> <div> Neel (Emir Kusturica) is a fisherman who gets knock down drunk with a friend one night, after nearly dying in a terrible storm at sea. In a drunken haze, they begin arguing whether their former sea captain is "big" or "fat." They take a boat to Dog Island where he lives. After luring the man out of his house late at night, they senselessly knife him to death. After their arrest and trial, Judge Venot (Philippe Magnan) finds them guilty and sentences Neel to death. Since this remote location has no guillotine or executioner, Neel has almost a year to wait on death row under the watchful eye of the Captain and his compassionate wife, Madame La. </div> <div> While awaiting delivery of the guillotine and the search to find someone who is willing to perform the execution, Madame La enlists Neel's help in her garden, and to repair the decrepit homes of the poor people who live on nearby Dog Island. After Neel becomes a hero by saving the life of a local woman and preventing a new building from being destroyed, any thought of finding an executioner on the island vanishes.</div> <bR> <div> After the winter breaks, a guillotine is sent from the island of Martinique. Also on the ship from Martinique is Chevassus (Ghyslain Tremblay), a refugee with a wife and a new baby, looking for lodging and money. He is the ideal candidate to be the executioner because he does not have community ties or an emotional bond to Neel.</div> <bR> <div> Plans are made to unload the guillotine from the ship and assemble it for use. Madame La and the Captain are politically butting heads with Judge Venot and the Governor (Michel Duchaussoy). The Captain and his wife argue for leniency, citing Neel's rehabilitation and redemption. While in the smoke filled drawing rooms, the Judge and the Governor call for "topping" him, and want to save face with the citizens (certainly don't want to appear soft on crime). True, the law of the land does call for death by guillotine, and that's the hook they'll hang their swords on. While the Judge and Governor give no moral thought to capital punishment, it is foremost on the minds of Madame La and the Captain. France does not have capital punishment today, because there were people like these who laid the groundwork for its abolishment. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: Having just seen <I>In The Mood For Love</I> the day prior to this, director Patrice Leconte shows the importance of bringing a sufficient level of closure to complex personal relationships. In <I>Mood</I>, we have no idea how things are likely to turn out for the key characters. Here we either know or can readily project what the future may bring. We leave this film with something to think about regarding capital punishment. </div> <bR> <div> Without doubt President Bush won't be inviting people to his private screening room to see <I>Dancer in the Dark</I> or <I>The Widow of St. Pierre.</I> Both are liberal leaning films that are clearly against capital punishment. <I>Dancer</I> is by far the more balanced and effective of the two films. It makes its case against the death penalty by showing how innocent people can be convicted. Court appointed lawyers are for people who can't hire the ones with $1,000 suits. The result is that the state has an unfair advantage in the judicial contest. </div> <bR> <div> In <I>St. Pierre,</I> the case against legal execution is made, by taking the path of rehabilitation.  It advances a moral argument that the death penalty is more about revenge than justice. Where it misses the mark is that even one who is repentant and fully rehabilitated, who now poses no threat to society, still owes society a debt. Neel's actions regarding his family and his sentencing, show that he understands this; perhaps better than others. </div> <bR> <div> The scenario presented in the story has such a left leaning slant that even those against the death penalty, in many cases would object to this kid gloves treatment. Here, Neel is treated like no penalty of any kind need be paid for taking an innocent man's life. </div> <div> One comment from the <B>Talk Cinema</B> audience that previewed this film was "I was not for capital punishment until now." </div> <bR> <div> With all of that said, the movie is trying to make a point artistically, as compared to being in your face like <I>Dead Man Walking.</I> Anyone who has seen director Leconte's film, <I><B>Girl on the Bridge </B></I>will understand if you nit pick all the details, the message of the film gets lost. The point may have been better made if the ship with the guillotine had sunk, which would have required a longer time for Neel to reform himself. Some type of punishment other than the death penalty may have been appropriate, fair and humane.</div> <bR> <div> I'm all for prisoner's rights but victim's rights come first. Most industrialized nations have eliminated the death penalty, except the USA. We have built too many jails in recent years that have far too many non-violent, petty, drug criminals incarcerated, for far too long. Maybe it's time to use some of that space for life sentences and for us to use our religious faith to balance the meanings of revenge, rehabilitation and justice…for all.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> R (sex; violence; mature themes)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Juliette Binoche: <I>Chocolat</I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Daniel Auteuil: <I>Girl on the Bridge</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Emir Kusturica: <I>Black Cat, White Cat</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Michel Duchaussoy: <I>Les-Miserables, TV</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Philippe Magnan: <I>Actors</I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Ghyslain Tremblay: <I>Montreal  P.Q.-TV</I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Patrice Leconte: <I>Girl on the Bridge</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="286" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>