Lucy Aubrac as a Historical Drama - Movie Review Example

LUCY AUBRAC AS A HISTORICAL DRAMA Lucie Aubrac, a film shown in 1997, is a love story or a tale of the French resistance against the Germans during World War II. It tells the haunting story of a French resistance cell in Lyon and the love story of Lucie Aubrac and her husband. It tells of the extent that Lucie goes through in order to rescue her husband from the hands of the Germans in a detention cell in Lyon. The movie is based on the true story of Lucie Aubrac and her political struggle, along with the others, as a member of the Resistance movement against the Germans (Plot Summary for Lucie Aubrac, 2007). The movie is based on Lucie Aubrac’s autobiographic novel, which depicts of a couple – she and her husband - who are participants of the French Resistance to German occupation during World War II. Lucie was aided by her passion and wit to flee her husband Raymond on more than one occasion from indubitable death at the hands of the Gestapo, the German secret police. The relationship between Lucie and her husband is highlighted by the movie alongside their heroism and that of others. Lucie Bernard was a French history teacher prior to the onset of the war. She married Raymond Samuel in 1939, who became known as Raymond Aubrac during and after the war. The change of surname was urged by the open anti-Semitism and persecution of Jews at the time. Since then, Lucie adopted the surname Aubrac (Jackson 2007). The film ‘Lucy Aubrac’ can be read as a historical drama and/or a documentary film. However, as it highlights the passionate love between a woman and her husband, it can also be referred to as having leaned to a heritage film. The term ‘heritage film’ refers to a movement in British cinema in the late 20th century, which depicts the previous century in which England was often in nostalgic approach, such as filming of Shakespeare plays and Jane Austen novels with the use of splendid landscapes (Higson 2003). The use of splendid scenes of the English landscape is typical of these films, with an objective to create a feel-good factor. The heritage films are criticized for presenting ‘heritage’ in the background, such as presenting a stately home in the background and using this genre as both a marketable commodity and a romanticized portrayal of the past (Kramer 2005). One good characteristic of the movie as to why it can be read as a historical drama is its being a real life story that transpired during a historical event in the world history. The events depicted in the film are not fictional but according to real life events of the cruelty of the German Occupation in France. Since the Lucie Aubrac film is a historical drama, it can be used as a learning aid in the teaching of French History or World History. Its usage may aid students in understanding visually some events during the German Occupation in France. The accuracy of events depicted in the film qualifies it to be called a documentary film, describing in a cinematic fashion not only the difficult situation that the characters went through, but also the accurate events and dates that happened. The film made mention of certain known and infamous personages who participated in the war, such as Charles Delestraint, Emmanuel dAstier, and Jean Moulin, who are also encountered in the French History. The capture of Raymond Aubrac on June 21, 1943 alongside high-ranking Resistance member Jean Moulin is a recorded history. Lucie and comrades were able to release Raymond with thirteen others four months later, through the help of the resistance members and by outwitting a German soldier. They were able to escape to London with their first child in February 1944 after their cover had been revealed to the Germans. The Germans did not take it a lot longer to work out the identities of most of their captives, including Moulin. Moulin was heavily tortured and died in Paris where he was transferred from his prison cell. On the other hand, Raymond Aubrac was held in the Montluc prison in Lyon and was beaten. Lucie was able to release her by mounting an extraordinary scheme, in which she says that her fiancée “Ermelin,” (one of Raymond’s aliases) was about to marry her but was mistaken by the Gestapo as a resistance member. When the soldier informed her that Raymond was to be executed, she begged that they let him marry her to save her honour and legitimise her expected child (Jackson 2007). It was how she was able to conduct her scheme, in which on their “wedding day,” their comrades attacked and rescued Raymond Aubrac. The film ‘Lucie Aubrac’ is contributory to the living legacy left by Lucie and her struggle, along with the rest, in the Resistance movement against the German Occupation. Since the remnants of the war and its atrocities had haunted the whole of humanity, not only France, the filmed story of Lucie Aubrac contributes to seeing the minute details of how the Gestapo robbed the French of their inherent human rights and how the French resisted such robbing off. It shows that however difficult the path may be, the essence of struggle for freedom and nationalism is still instilled and not a bit tainted. However, since the film is to be shown also for commercial purposes in which the producer ensures good earnings, it has to some extend be presented according to the general taste and interest of the viewing public. Highlighting its romantic aspect aside from the political color has helped in a more appreciation of the film, making it more heart-felt and filled with human drama. Perhaps, it is in this aspect where the film falls within the boundary of a heritage film, as it depicts the passionate love between two nationalistic people trapped in the rages of war and aimed to survive from its atrocities. This is perhaps because the producer did not aim for it to become entirely ‘academic’ or ‘historical’ that target historical centers in order to contribute to the historic archives. Rather, it is primarily filmed for commercial purposes through the very depiction of the life and struggle of Lucie Aubrac, serving as an inspiration for the struggle for freedom. In this context, the film ‘Lucy Aubrac’ is a classic love story between couples during the resistance movement. However, some criticisms that may be forwarded include the emphasis given to the love story itself of the couples instead of tackling the motives of the war, exposing the havoc caused by Hitler on France and the entire humanity, which consists of genocide and other crimes against humanity. On the other hand, these points may as much turn the movie into a descriptive documentary film instead, and both the director and the producer know that this is not the kind of genre they want the movie to appear. Using the life story of Lucy Aubrac is the exact mode of how to make the film an embodiment of war, human rights violations, political struggle, death, cruelty, freedom, and legacy. Lucie Aubrac’s life story is the most fitted story to depict all these in a single film, alongside her love story with Raymond. When the war is over, her struggle for the restoration of freedom and respect for human rights did not end there, as she became an advocate of human rights. Her book Ils partiront dans livresse, best translated as "They will leave with elation," is the code that will signal their safe departure for London (Jackson 2007). We may infer that the Lucie Aubrac film helps remove the cloud of allegations that Lucie’s husband was a Nazi informer. What makes the story haunting is the very fact that its truthful and exact depiction of important historical events leads us back to the bygone era of World War II. Its being a true story reminds us that what we are viewing is not just a typical adventure film or a suspense drama, but a reenactment of the lives of people who fell victims to the hands of the atrocious Gestapo soldiers, their struggles, their failures, their death, their resurrection, and their continuing struggle. In this case, the Lucie Aubrac film may be considered a documentary film because it was able to document a World War II scenario through important personages that played a vital role during the war. Since Lucie herself did not fade after the war, but instead pursued efforts that support respect for human rights, continued to teach in the field of French History, and wrote books about the struggle of people in World War II, she herself became a living legacy. The film Lucie Aubrac became even more significant because of this fact. References Higson, Andrew, 2003. English Heritage, English Cinema: Costume Drama Since 1980. Jackson. Julian, 2007. Lucie Aubrac. Retrieved on July 27, 2008 from [http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2007/mar/16/guardianobituaries.france] Krämer, Lucia, 2005. “Oscar Wilde As An Object Of The English Heritage Industry," Irish Studies Review, Vol. 13, pp. 359-367. 2007. Plot summary for Lucy Aubrac. Retrieved on July 27, 2008 from [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119586/plotsummary] Read More