Speaker #0Bonjour and welcome to the French Cinema Room, the podcast where we peel back the cinematic layers of French most compelling films, one movie and one theme at a time. I'm your host Georgia and today we're stepping into a post-war world of art, trauma and spectacle with a focus on Albert Dupontel's visually stunning and emotionally piercing film Au Revoir La Haut. See you up there in English. This is one of my favorite movies, so it made sense to inaugurate this podcast, highlighting its quality. Today's theme, the art of creating the mask. Not just as a physical object, but as a form of identity, protest and survival. So grab your headphones and your papier-mâché, because this one's going to dig deep beneath the surface. Music. Released in 2017 and adapted from Pierre Lemaître's concours winning novel, Au revoir là-haut is set in the immediate aftermath of World War I. It follows Édouard Péricourt a gifted artist and soldier who survives the war only to return home disfigured and disillusioned alongside fellow-soldier albert maillard who is also the narrator edouard devises a grand artistic scam that both critics and manipulates france's obsession with honoring its war dead albert maillard played by albert du pontel is our lance into the story grounded traumatized and constantly stumbling through chaos he is the moral anchor his relationship with edouard reflects both guilt and fierce loyalty edouard péricourt played by naoel perez vizcayar is unforgettable faceless flamboyant and full of fury edouard is a tragic heroic figure who expresses himself through elaborated masks and art despite not speaking much post injury His performance is full of raw expression conveyed through body language and the whimsical masks he creates. The foil is Lieutenant Pradel, played by Laurent Lafitte, the ruthless officer who embodies opportunism and state corruption. He is the film's villain, more bureaucrat than brute, and represents a nation that rewards cruelty and punishes humanity. Visually, this film is a feast. Dupontel and cinematographer vincent mathias create painterly compositions echoing french impressionist and surrealist styles the war scenes are shot with chaotic kinetic energy while post-war paris feels theatrical and ironically alive juxtaposing death with spectacle winner of five césar awards the film is a masterful blend of theatricality and sincerity an unforgettable post-war requiem. But the emotional core of this film isn't just the trenches or the scam. It's in Edouard's face, or rather the one he constructs. Unable to speak and missing his jaw, Edouard retreats behind a series of handcrafted masks. And it's through these masks that the film explores one of its most powerful themes, how identity can be curated when the self has been shattered. Let's start with the masks themselves, showcased during the film. They are not prosthetics, in the traditional sense. They are theatrical, poetic and deeply expressive. Each one feels like a character in its own right. We see masks that are whimsical, tragic, even grotesquely beautiful. Each of Edward's masks is distinct, not just in design, but in mood and meaning. One is painted gold. like a tragic commedia dell'arte figure, frozen in eternal ironic joy. Another is pale and delicate, with sad painted eyes and high cheekbones, a childlike specter of the man he once was. Later we see a skeletal, almost Day of the Dead-inspired mask during a drag-induced sequence, suggesting the nearness of death and the living nightmare he endures. the masks become a way for edouard to reclaim agency if his face was taken from him he would choose what people see instead He doesn't just hide behind them, he speaks through them. There is something quietly radical about Edouard's mask-making. In a country that's glorifying the war dead while abandoning its wounded, his masks are acts of defiance. They say, you will not use my body for your comfort. I will be seen the way I choose. His art challenges France's culture of remembrance. Those grand statues and pompous ceremonies that mask a deep national hypocrisy. It's not coincidence that the same society that ignores him profits from monuments to people like him. So Edward turns the tables. He and Albert scam municipalities by selling fake war memorials. It's satire, yes, but also revenge. A grotesque echo of what was done to him using his pain for profit. In real life, the masks were designed by French artist Cécile Kretschmar, who worked closely with Dupontel and actor Naumel Pérez-Piscaillard to create pieces that were both wearable and expressive. Each mask needed to reflect not only Edward's shifting emotions, but also remaining visually striking on camera. They were made of paper, plaster, Metal and paint, some static, others with moving parts. Interestingly, Kretzmar cited expressionist art and 1920s theater design as influences. You can see traces of Picasso, Modigliani and even Cocteau in them. It's a rare example of sculpture meeting performance art embedded directly into character. Now let's talk symbolism. the mask stands in for facades we all wear the brave face in grief the polite smile in pain the public persona versus the private self in edward's case the masks reflect how trauma can obliterate identity forcing people to rebuild it from scratch they also symbolize the invisibility of the wounded society prefers the clean the whole the beautiful so Edward makes himself too bold to be ignored. The most poetic part is that, despite being faceless, Edouard communicates more than any other character. His silence, paired with these haunting creations, forces others to look closer, listen deeper. These masks serve as extensions of Edouard's art. They are not meant to blend in or restore normalcy. They are loud, expressive and curated. Think of it as Edward's reclaiming authorship over his face, his story and his legacy. In a way, each mask is a canvas, a shifting portrait of Edward's emotional state. The materials, the colors, even the imperfections all speak. This is curation, not for disguise, but for expression. But expression is only one aspect of it. The mask also functions as armor. after the war edouard is caught between gratitude and invisibility the french state wants to honor him as a war hero but also to forget his existence his face is a reminder of the horrors that many would rather not see so he creates a new face a gallery of faces really each one allowing him to shield his vulnerability while selectively revealing what he wants the world to see silence becomes his language and the mask becomes his voice. This isn't just about post-traumatic healing. It's about control. Edouard no longer has to perform recovery for others. He can stage his own identity on his terms. In curating the mask, he finds autonomy. And that's where the film hits hardest. How many of us wear masks, not just little ones, but curated identities to survive a world that won't let us show who we really are. Now let's zoom out, because the mask in Au revoir La haut isn't just personal, it's political. Edouard and Albert's elaborate scam, which involves selling fake war memorials, is itself a performance. It's not just revenge or survival, it's satire, a mockery of a nation obsessed with patriotic rituals but unwilling to care for its wounded. and edward's masks become part of this critique they are not just facial coverings they are works of art that expose hypocrisy his masks often echo national symbols built on lies as their creator is someone society has tried to erase this duality of honoring the dead while discarding the living is at the core of au revoir la haut and this contradiction becomes most powerful through edward's craftsmanship and artistry from a cinematic standpoint dupontel's direction is masterful in making these masks speak The lighting often isolates Edouard's face, drawing attention to the mask as the focal point of a scene. The use of saturated color and chiaroscuro gives the mask an almost mythic quality, and the camera lingers, inviting us not to look away, but to look deeper. Even the film score shifts when Edouard dons a new mask. Silence, piano, and strings interact with his presence like a character themselves. christophe julien's score blends whimsy with melancholy this music shifts between playful cabaret tones and sweeping orchestral sadness mirroring the tonal duality of the film sound design plays a crucial role particularly with edouard his silence is often more powerful than words and the exaggerated sounds of war and Parisian life reflect inner psychological states. there is one particular moment no spoilers where the mask falls off and the raw humanity in the silence is unforgettable this is visual story-telling at its finest as ambitious as it is Au revoir la haut isn't without its flaws first of all let's talk about the tonal whiplash for some viewers the mix of humor tragedy and satire won't be for everyone some may find the shifts in tone, particularly between slapsticks and serious drama, a bit jarring. It's a stylistic choice, but one that demands trust from the audience. Second, let's talk about pacing in the second half. After a near-perfect first hour, the film does slow down in the latter portion. The narrative becomes a little scattered as it juggles multiple plot lines, the con, the romance, the political subplot, the father-son drama, and occasionally loses momentum. Thirdly, it's simplified moral oppositions. Some of the villains, like the war profiteers and corrupt officers, are patent in fairly broad strokes. It serves the film's satirical goals, but those seeking complex antagonists may feel short-changed. Finally, let's talk about the occasional overindulgence. Because the film is so rich visually and tonally, There are moments where it risks becoming too much, too stylized, too melodramatic or too busy. Dupontel's direction is full of energy but not always restrained. This film is ultimately about the invisible scars of war. Edward's face is gone but Albert's soul is equally wounded. The film shows us how a country obsessed with public heroism can overlook the private suffering of its soldiers. There's also a strong critique of bureaucracy and capitalism. The idea that war becomes a business, that death can be commodified, is at the heart of the memorial scam. Towns buy monuments not to honor the dead, but to keep up appearances. And finally, Au Revoir La Haut is about friendship, the unlike bond between two men from different worlds, bound by trauma, navigating post-war life together. Their loyalty... is the emotional glue of the film if you're wondering how this film compares to others in the war genre it shares the visual creativity of amelie but with far darker themes it recalls the anti-war sharpness of kubrick's paths of glory and it matches the post-war surrealism and artifice of jojo rabbit though au revoir la haut is much more grounded in real historical drama it's also part of a growing trend in French cinema of using formally inventive styles to tackle serious topics, films like Mic Max, The Artist or even Delicatessen. So should you watch Au Revoir La haut ? Absolutely! It's not your typical war film. It's richer, riskier, more emotionally complex. It's a film that mourns the dead, honors the wounded and secures those who profit from both. So what is a mask really? In Au Revoir La Haut it's not about hiding, it's about choosing what to show. It's about survival, artistry, protest and above all agency. Edouard refuses to be pitied, labelled or forgotten and in curating his masks he becomes the author of his own myth. As viewers, we're left with a haunting question. What masks do we wear? And what truth lies beneath them? Thanks for joining me. I'm Georgia, and this was the French Cinema Room. If you enjoyed this small introduction to a French movie, consider subscribing and sharing the episode, and I'll see you on the next one. Cheers!
