SAFE CONDUCT
Directed by: Bertrand Tavernier.
Produced by: Frédéric Bourboulon & Alain Sarde.
Written by: Jean Cosmos & Bertrand Tavernier, based on the book by Jean-Davaivre.
Director of Photography: Alain Choquart.
Edited by: Sophie Brunet.
Music by: Antoine Duhamel.
Released by: Koch Lorber.
Language: French.
Country of Origin: France/Germany/Spain. 170 min. Not Rated.
With: Denis Podlaydès, Jacques Gamblin & Christian Berkel.
DVD Features: Production notes. Photo gallery. Trailer. English Subtitles

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
May 16, 2004