Safe Conduct (Laissez-passer) (2001)
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75% of critics liked it
(36 reviews) -
68% of users liked it
(447 ratings)
During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, the nation's movie studios continued to operate; some filmmakers and technicians simply went along with what their new leaders demanded in hopes keeping themselves and their families safe, while others sought to subvert the messages of… More During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, the nation's movie studios continued to operate; some filmmakers and technicians simply went along with what their new leaders demanded in hopes keeping themselves and their families safe, while others sought to subvert the messages of their captors through their work. Safe Conduct, directed by Bertrand Tavernier, is a fact-based period drama which examines two men working for a Parisian film company during 1942 and 1943, as well as their friends, family, and loved ones. Jean Devaivre (played by Jacques Gamblin) is an assistant director for Continental Pictures, a studio which has recently been taken over by the Germans and is headed by Dr. Greven (Christian Berkel), a self-styled aficionado of French filmmaking. With a wife (Marie Desgranges) and a newborn son to support, Devaivre feels he has little choice but to continue with his work, though as he rises from assisting to becoming a full fledged director thanks to the efforts of Maurice Tourneur (Philippe Morier-Genoud), he struggles to work his own views into his pictures as much as he can. Screenwriter Jean Aurenche (Denis Podalydes), a man who lives for wine, women and song (not necessarily in that order), refuses to work for Greven, and as he bounces between his many lovers - actress Suzanne Raymond (Charlotte Kady), no-nonsense streetwalker Olga (Marie Gillain), and soft-hearted Reine (Maria Pitarresi), a struggles to find a way to make a living with his words. Both Devaivre and Aurenche were real-life figures in the French film industry during the occupation, as were many of Safe Conduct's supporting characters; the real life Aurenche went on to write the screenplay for Bertrand Travernier's first feature film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Bertrand Tavernier
- Written By
- Jean Cosmos, Bertrand Tavernier
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
R,
- In Theaters
- Mar 22, 2002 Wide
- Studio
- Empire Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Marta Barber, Miami Herald
Longer than 2 1/2 hours, there's too much to sort out and the confusion becomes annoying.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
[While The Last Metro] was more melodramatic, confined to a single theater company and its strategies and deceptions, while Tavernier is more concerned with the entire period of history.
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Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
No one who loves French film (or movies in general) should miss it.
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Ty Burr, Boston Globe
There's an epic here, but you have to put it together yourself.
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Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Though it runs 163 minutes, Safe Conduct is anything but languorous. It's packed to bursting with incident, and with scores of characters, some fictional, some from history.
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Cast
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Jacques Gamblin
as Jean Devaivre
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Denis Podalydès
as Jean Aurenche
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Christian Berkel
as Dr. Greven
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Marie Gillain
as Olga
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Charlotte Kady
as Suzanne Raymond
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Marie Desgranges
as Simone Devaivre
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Maria Pitarresi
as Reine Sorignal
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Thierry Gibault
as Paul Maillebuau
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Philippe Morier-Genoud
as Maurice Tourneur
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Christophe Odent
as Pierre Bost
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Ged Marlon
as Jean-Paul Le Chanois
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Laurent Schilling
as Charles Spaak
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Olivier Brun
as Jacques Dubuis
- Olivier Gourmet
- Richard Sammel
- Liliane Rovere
- Serge Riaboukine
- Pierre Lacan
- Jean-Yves Roan
