A lot of critical ink has been used to talk about how politically brave the film is, given that the outcome of the war was in no ways assured in 1940. So I was ready for the political satire and the humanistic speech at the end. Here’s what I wasn’t ready for–how darn funny the film can be.

There is no way this film should be this good. A retelling of Herman Melville’s “Billy Budd” set in the French Foreign Legion, directed by a woman born in France, and culminating with an electric break dance by the Claggart character (Denis Lavant as Galoup)? Are you kidding me?

Okay, the plot is pure melodrama, but talk about star power…
The story is essentially a love triangle, with Clark Gable playing a big game hunter who is sought both by the free spirited Honey Bear …

One mark of a newbie cinephile is that you tend to think that all world film is alike. That Kurosawa is the same as Ozu is the same as Naruse is the same as Koreeda …