- Actors: On Guard: Daniel Auteuil, Fabrice Luchini, Vincent Perez, Marie Gillain, Philippe Noiret
- Director: Philippe de Broca
- Format: Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: French
- Subtitles: English
- Region: All Regions
- Number of discs: 2
- Rated: R
- Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- Release Date: August 9, 2016
- Run Time: 216 minutes
This two-film
Blu-ray set includes a pair of films that might never be viewed together if it
weren’t for the director they share in common. The two films come from French
filmmaker Philippe De Broca, though they are movies from different genres and
separated by over 35 years. Five Day
Lover is a romance drama from 1961, while On Guard is a swashbuckling action comedy from the late 1990s. It
makes for a strange double feature, but these two films offer a sampling from
the beginning and end of De Broca’s expansive career.
Five Day Lover is an surprising take on
the adultery romance drama, with the ending offering a bold twist on the
narrative by playing with audience expectations about each of the characters
and gender roles. The film centers around an affair that begins when Claire
(Jean Seberg) meets Antoine (Jean-Pierre Cassel) at a fashion show run by her
successful friend, Madeleine (Micheline Presle). Claire takes Antoine as her
afternoon lover, despite the fact that he is already Madeleine’s kept
boyfriend. Their relationship only exists during weekday afternoons because
Claire is married to a passionately dull historian named Georges (François
Périer).
This narrative
could easily have been fit to a film noir or a heavy melodrama, but De Broca’s
style remains characteristically lighthearted. Many of the scenes which might
have slipped into heavy soap opera drama are instead played like a screwball
comedy, complete with quick-witted banter in a battle of the sexes. This
cheerful demeanor only fades towards the end, when the film suddenly becomes
heartbreaking with certain revelations. Both in themes and stylistic approach, Five Day Lover was way ahead of its
time, likely to be compared to Woody Allen if remade today with a Manhattan setting.
On Guard, the second film in the set,
instead speaks to an older tradition of storytelling and filmmaking. France has
a rich history of swashbuckling storytelling, mostly thanks to the work and
adaptations of Alexandre Dumas (The Three
Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo),
and On Guard is based on a lesser
known novel by Paul Féval in the same vein. All of the elements are there, from
the sword-fighting and nobility to the betrayal and subsequent plan of revenge.
There is plenty of spectacle and physical comedy mixed with violence and just a
hint of eroticism, making this energetic French blockbuster a signature De
Broca film.
The epic
narrative begins with an unlikely friendship between a sword-fighting street
urchin named Legardére (Daniel Auteuil) and the Duke of Nevers (Vincent Perez).
Their friendship ends up being priceless when the Duke is betrayed by his
cousin, Gonzague (Fabrice Luchini). After keeping the news of his bastard child
from the Duke, Gonzague plans a sabotage that kills him and nearly all of his
men. The only survivors are the young baby girl and rightful heir of the Duke,
along with Legardére, who protects and raises the baby as his own. Sixteen
years later the baby has grown into a young woman named Aurore (Marie Gillain),
leading to some confusing feelings and an unlikely romance amidst the expected
swashbuckling action.
Each of the film
is kept on its own disc, along with special features. The only extra included
on Five Day Lover is a 2016 re-release
trailer, while On Guard has many more
perks in addition to the 129-minute film. There are interviews with five of the
main actors, producer Patrick Godeau, and De Broca, along with
behind-the-scenes footage and an assortment of trailers.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6.5/10
Special Features: 6/10
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