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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
SAFE CONDUCT
Rambling and anecdotal, this nearly
three-hour film is intermittently compelling. Based on actual people and events, the film
follows Jean Aurenche (Podlaydès), a screenwriter who hides his Jewish identity and tries to remain
independent from Continental Films, a German-sanctioned production company during the Nazi
occupation of France. Toiling as an assistant director in the belly of the beast is impulsive
Jean-Devaivre (Gamblin), a communist spying for the Resistance. The film mostly follows his adventures – planting
grenades in a rail yard, daringly trespassing into an office to photograph sensitive documents,
and in a farcical episode, being deliriously ill and taken by force to England for an
interrogation led by the Resistance. Tavernier depicts a moral world of gray, not black and white,
filled with telling moments of day-to-day life during the Occupation. People scrounge for food
wherever they can (detonated bombs in a river produces a bounty of fish), a film extra barters food
for a few lines of dialogue, and anti-Semitism and opportunism thrive. Almost everyone is
morally compromised. Olga, a pragmatic prostitute, gives aid and comfort to Aurenche, while
sleeping with the enemy. Even Devaivire’s actions have dire consequences for a friend. The acting is
understated and appears in many moments to be improvisational. Which may be why the film is
unfocused. Tavernier takes his time in capturing this time period – at the expense of a concise
narrative and often the viewer’s interest. Kent Turner
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