Film Review: The Return of Martin Guerre (Le Retour de Martin Guerre, 1982)
Real life can often deliver stories that are beyond the imagination of any Hollywood screenwriter. One such story, recorded in mid-16th Century France, has inspired numerous writers throughout the centuries and ultimately served as the basis for The Return of Martin Guerre, a 1982 French historical drama directed by Daniel Vigne. The film is a fascinating exploration of identity, memory, and the law, anchored by a cast that brings the dusty, rural realities of early modern France to vivid life.
The plot begins roughly in 1560 when Jean de Coras (Roger Planchon), a highly respected legal scholar serving as judge at the Toulouse parlement – the appellate court – is working on the bizarre and complicated case. Through a flashback, we are brought roughly eighteen years earlier to the village of Artigat, in the County of Foix, where a young man named Martin Guerre (Stéphane Péan), the son of a local peasant, is married to a young woman named Bertrande (Sylvie Méda). Martin has difficulty consummating the marriage, becoming the object of ridicule, and Bertrande delivers a child only with great difficulty. Being considered lazy and accused of grain theft by his family, Martin leaves the village, apparently joining a band of soldiers.
Years later, a much older man (Gérard Depardieu), appears in Artigat claiming to be Martin Guerre. At first, he seems to be recognised and accepted by everyone, including now much older Bertrande (Nathalie Baye), who was patiently awaiting the return of her husband. However, there are doubts, which are rather enthusiastically accepted by Martin's uncle Pierre (Maurice Barrier), whose own inheritance scheme the return of Martin has wrecked. Some of the local wanderers, former soldiers, claim that Martin is actually Arnaud, a man from the nearby village of Thil, and that the real Martin Guerre lost a leg fighting in the Battle of St. Quentin. The accusations and counteraccusations lead to a complicated trial during which "Martin Guerre," who had apparently learned to read and write, shows great oratorical skill and makes a convincing case. Even more importantly, the impostor has Bertrande on his side, who claims that this is indeed her husband and genuinely loves him. The parlement appears to rule in his favour, but in the last minute, the appearance of a one-legged man (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu), claiming to be the real Martin Guerre puts everything in doubt.
While most filmmakers would turn this fascinating story about false identities, infidelity and the nature of love into cheap melodrama, Daniel Vigne, who has co-written the script with the highly respected French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, takes a completely different approach. Instead, the focus is on authenticity and the idea to depict those events as close as possible to the way they really occurred. A lot of research was done by Natalie Zemon Davis, a Canadian historian specialised in the Early Modern period, and she served as technical advisor, later comprising her findings in the 1983 book The Return of Martin Guerre, often celebrated as one of the prime examples of microhistory. This dedication to historical fact is the film's greatest strength, grounding the narrative in the specific social and economic conditions of the time rather than in dramatic convenience.
The authenticity of the film is achieved by Vigne depicting 16th Century France from the perspective of its most ordinary inhabitants. The film is almost completely set in a quiet little village and features authentic music, costumes and depiction of local customs, almost serving as some sort of ethnographic study. There is a tactile quality to the production design; the mud of the floors, the grain of the wood, and the scratchy quality of the clothing immerse the viewer in the peasant experience. It captures the drudgery and the specific social hierarchies of the time without needing grand historical tableaux or sweeping aerial shots.
Yet, Vigne also takes the opportunity to use some of the most celebrated French actors of his time. Depardieu shines as the titular tragic anti-hero, creating a lot of sympathy and understanding for his morally questionable acts. His portrays a weary, calculating man who navigates a dangerous world with a surprising degree of charm and intelligence. Nathalie Baye, who is considered one of the grand dames of French cinema, is also very good in the complex role of a wife whose allegiances change throughout the film; she captures the desperation of a woman stuck in a loveless marriage and the genuine confusion of a woman who believes she has found her lost husband. Roger Planchon is also good as the enlightened intellectual, whose views might connect a modern viewer with a France half a millennium ago. His courtroom scenes are particularly effective in highlighting the clash between medieval superstition and nascent legal rationality.
Yet, despite this, the relatively low budget and realistic depiction of rural France make this film less grand than it should have been and more akin to a television production. The major twist at the end seems a little bit too abrupt and Hollywood-like, prioritising a dramatic payoff over narrative pacing. But most of the film's flaws are mostly due to the inevitable comparison with the 1993 Hollywood remake Sommersby, which, unburdened by historical facts, allowed for more melodrama, more budget, and a grandiose and effective musical score by Danny Elfman. The French original is grittier, drier, and more intellectually rigorous, whereas the American version was designed to tug at the heartstrings.
In the time of its premiere, The Return of Martin Guerre was one of the most celebrated French films and a great international hit in the arthouse circuit. It was, quite deservedly, honoured by being referenced by Ed Chigliak, a cinema-obsessed character of Northern Exposure, in one of that series' episodes. It clearly shows the power of historical inquiry on screen, proving that truth can indeed be stranger than fiction.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
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