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Bon Voyage (2003 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Bon Voyage' is a 2003 French film directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau starring Isabelle Adjani and Grard Depardieu. It is very loosely inspired by Professor Lew Kowarski's smuggling of the world's only supplies of heavy water out of France following its occupation by the Nazis.
Plot
In 1940, film star Viviane Denvert sits in the audience of a premiere of her new movie and notices a man who keeps staring at her. She is disturbed, and when the film is over and the audience has finished praising her, she rushes home, discovering she is pursued by the same man. He chases her into her apartment.
An hour later, Frdric Auger, a young writer, receives a call from Viviane, who was his childhood crush. Viviane, who has long used Frdric's devotion, asks him to come to her apartment immediately.
Upon arriving, he discovers a corpse, "accidentally" killed, which Viviane asks him to dispose of, claiming that the man had been harassing her and when she slapped him, he fell over the edge of the balcony. He agrees to help her and the two pack the corpse into the trunk of his car; however, as it is raining, he accidentally drives into a curb and hits a police signalling device. The trunk opens upon impact, revealing the dead body to the arriving police, and Frdric is arrested and sent to prison. On the eve of the German occupation of Paris, all of the city's citizens evacuate, including the prisoners. Prisoners are paired up with another and handcuffed together. Frdric and his cellmate Raoul take advantage of the confusion to escape. Frdric takes the train to Bordeaux, where he learns that Viviane is. Raoul is also on the train and he leads Frdric to a seat near another girl, Camille. Camille, a physicist, works at the elite College de France under Professor Kopolski; the two of them are guarding French stocks of heavy water that they want to ship to England before the Germans can get their hands on it.
The remainder of the film traces the action-packed adventures of the characters, caught between two forces - the German invasion and Viviane's capacity for melodrama. Some decide to stay in France while others go underground or escape to London. In a very short scene, a quite recognizable General Charles de Gaulle is told "Bon voyage" by one of the protagonists .
Frdric eventually falls for Camille. At the end of the film, he returns from England and meets with Camille at an outdoor caf. When the Germans see them, they flee and sneak into a movie theatre. When Frdric sees one of the Germans enter the theater in search for them, he turns and kisses Camille. They stop once their pursuers leave. Frdric looks up at the screen and sees Viviane singing and dancing. Frdric turns to Camille, and they resume kissing as the film ends.
Cast
* Isabelle Adjani: Viviane Denvert
* Grard Depardieu: Jean-tienne Beaufort
* Virginie Ledoyen: Camille
* Yvan Attal: Raoul
* Grgori Derangre: Frdric Auger
* Peter Coyote: Alex Winckler
* Aurore Clment: Jacqueline de Lusse
* dith Scob: Madame Arbesault
* Michel Vuillermoz: Monsieur Girard
* Nicolas Vaude: Thierry Arpel
* Jean-Marc Stehl: Professor Kopolski
Awards
* Nominations for best costumes, best director, best editing, best film, best original score, best sound editing, best supporting actor, and best writing at the 2004 Csar Awards.
* Awards for best photography, best set design, and best young hopeful actor (Grgori Derangre) at the 2004 Csars.
References
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