If you haven’t read Irene Nemirovsky’s Suite Française, you should remedy that as soon as possible. As great-yet-not-quite-complete works of art go, it’s right up there with Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony and any attempt to make a film about Don Quixote ever. Its big-screen interpretation comes with awards hopes and two leads, Michelle Williams and Rust And Bone’s Matthias Schoenaerts, with the chops to carry its great swells of emotion. Check out its new trailer below.
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Williams plays Lucille Angellier, a French villager whose husband has fallen into the hands of the Germany army. The arrival of a Wehrmacht officer called Bruno (Schoenaerts) as part of that occupying force, not to mention a small army of refugees fleeing Paris, throws everything that wasn’t already into flux into that state of disrepair for her. Worse still, she begins to feel things for Bruno that could cost her dear.
The book is divided into three parts, although the first, a semi-satirical look at the fall of France in 1940, looks to have been condensed in favour of Lucille and Bruno’s burgeoning relationship. The reaction of her compatriots to this perceived act of treachery shines through in the trailer. ‘Allo ‘Allo, this ain’t.
Expect Suite Française to be heavy on emotional turmoil and heartache, and light on Madonnas with big boobies when it makes its UK cinema bow on January 23, the golden hour of awards season. It's written and directed by** The Duchess**'s Saul Dibb and also features Ruth Wilson, Margot Robbie, Alexandra Maria Lara, Tom Schilling, Kristin Scott Thomas and Sam Riley. Mark your diaries.