Uranus

Some movies are difficult to write about because capturing their essence and value in a few sentences is almost impossible. This little-known film by Claude Berri belongs to this category. Its categorization into a specific genre is a tricky puzzle. It is a psychological drama, a political film, a tragicomedy with a love story, and one can find elements from various genres within it. Uranus is a surprising and provocative film that forces contemplation and breaks established stereotypes. Berri introduces several extraordinarily interesting characters on the screen and attempts to capture the complexity of the post-war period directly when people were greatly frustrated by the suffering of war, feeling guilt, and effectively repressed through the relentless pursuit of those who have (seemingly) more to answer for. The film does not have one protagonist, as Berri presents a whole group of equal characters and confronts their attitudes. A French fascist facing execution hides with the family of a middle-class liberal who suffers from a guilty conscience for not lifting a finger against the occupation and fascism out of fear of the consequences. He deals with his failure through cynicism and by trying to redeem himself by protecting his opponent from death. The local communist organization includes profiteers, radical embittered fanatics, as well as idealists. In the town, inevitably, there are both greater and lesser collaborators, sycophants, professional informers, and generally "people of small minds." The police are afraid to act against those who hold or could hold political power - they can be blackmailed, after all, these policemen already served under Pétain... Some of the "heroes" carry elements of self-parody, which is one of the problematic aspects of the film - the line between comedy and drama is sometimes blurry, lacking the balance between comedy and tragedy that we know, for example, from Larks on a String. Uranus lacks that. The innkeeper Leopold, brilliantly portrayed by Gérard Depardieu, is a character who is a swaggering braggart with great comedic potential. It is precisely with this character that the viewer will probably identify the most and the director, contrary to the viewer's expectations, prepares for him a bitter fate. Some characters and motifs are underutilized, as is the case with the teacher played by Philippe Noiret. All in all, it's worth an honest four-star rating. Overall impression: 80%. The final confrontation when the communist resistance fighter decides whether to denounce the fascist, who probably would not have betrayed his political rival during the occupation is excellent... No character is black and white, not even Noiret's laid-back character, they are all painted in different shades of gray. The character played by the well-known comedian M. Galabru is perhaps the most repulsive he has ever played in his career... (02/04/2009)