:D Netflix



My Review: This is a powerful and complex movie about what's morally right vs. laws, ambitions, and jealousies. Juliette Binoche was wonderful as the Captain's beautiful wife, but also as the trusting benefactor of a convicted murderer. Daniel Auteuil was equally good as the Captain who stands up for his convictions, even if it threatens his very livelihood. Emir Kusturica literally transforms himself in the role of the hated convict. Set in 1849 on a French island, St. Pierre, I would recommend this film to period piece, romance, and drama lovers. Subtitles required.

SYNOPSIS:
This dark drama explores a true tale set in 1850 on the isolated French-Canadian island of St. Pierre. Yugoslav director Emir Kustirica makes a fabulous acting debut as Neele August, an illiterate fisherman who brutally murders his ex-fishing captain in a night of drunken revelry. Sentenced to death, August cannot be killed until the remote island Governor imports a used guillotine from the French government. While awaiting the arrival of the "widow," August is placed under the care of the reticent, iconoclastic Captain Jean (Daniel Auteuil) and his freethinking wife Pauline (Juliette Binoche). Under Pauline's direction, August becomes a devoted social servant whose heroic deeds place the island's female population solidly against his death sentence.