This superbly acted war romance boasts of stellar cast and performance by Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams, Matthias Schoenaerts, Academy Award winner Kristin Scott Thomas, Margot Robbie and Sam Riley.
Already pressured living with her domineering mother in law Madame Angellier while awaiting news about her soldier husband, Angellier's simple life changed when a German officer was billeted in their household. Lt. Bruno Van Falk, a strikingly handsome yet well-mannered German officer, was also smitten with Lucille's beauty and kindness. Even though Lucille tries to ignore Bruno, she finds herself charmed by his subtle wooing, kindly demeanor and their common love for piano music. Oftentimes Lucille would peak through windows and door catching a glimpse of their guest as he plays the piano or pets his adopted dog. It was her love of music that made her speak with Bruno for the first time. It was music that brought them closer together.
Likewise everyone else in the village have ambivalent responses about living closely with their invaders. An awkward moment showed that after months of not seeing shirtless blokes, French women were instantly glued to the sight of German soldiers bathing by the town square. The women's mothers of course remain hostile and curse their foreign occupants. Benoit Labarrie, Viscount's farmhouse tenant, terribly resents the young German lieutenant billeted in his household. To make matters worse, Lt. Kurt chases after his wife. On the other hand, Madame Angellier's beautiful tenant, Celine, has no compunctions sleeping with an enemy. After Celine was caught by Lucille having sex with their German guest by the woods, Celine firmly explained to her that they are human too just like themselves, and that it was Lucille and her mother in law who threw them out to sleep in a barn in exchange for Leah and her daughter Anna. Meanwhile, Leah, a Parisian refugee is seen to be always fearful whenever she sees German soldiers. While collecting their rent, Lucille sees a frightened Leah when Celine's German soldier lover approaches Leah to ask for soap. The pursuit for Benoit later exposed Leah as a hiding Jew. In an oddly saddening scenario, most townspeople took the German invasion as their opportunity to settle old scores and rifts with their neighbors.
Even though the romance is somewhat inescapable of contrivances, I cannot help but ship Lucille and Bruno. They just exude with so much chemistry that I find their love story breathtakingly moving. Words of love were not spoken between the two, but with every stare and thoughtful gestures of Bruno towards Lucille, one cannot help but fall for a dashingly handsome and gentleman enemy. It's hard not to fall for Bruno. He may be a Werchmacht lieutenant yet he abhors killing. If he can have it his way, he will not shoot any man at all. One can feel his humanity when Bruno even despised himself after leading the Viscount's execution but then he tried to make amends with Lucille by protecting her up to last minute before he left Bussy.
An additional twist in their story is that the clandestine couple were both bound to a loveless marriage. The air is thick with whispers about Lucille being a collaborator or a German whore. and the fear of them being caught is far too grave. After sharing a passionate kiss and an ephemeral yet steamy sex, Lucille and Bruno suddenly tarted to grow apart. Succumbing to her conscience and silencing her heart, Lucille decided Bruno is nothing like her. Moreover, the surrounding circumstances and their differences made the lovers question if they are really meant for each other. The only assurance Lucille gave Bruno to tell him that she loves him is when she said Bruno's life is precious to her. Bruno on the other hand, helped Lucille and Benoit escape from the checkpoint area.
How I wish the movie had a better ending for this two lovers who finally found something perfect in their lonely lives. It could end in a way like Lucille and Bruno, already divorced to their spouses met again after the war in Paris through an opera concert, rekindle their romance, got married, have kids and lived happily ever after. But war made it difficult to make them foresee a future together.
In addition to Bruno and Lucille's ill fated romance, the movie also showed the amazing human ability to move forward through through resilience and perseverance. In the words of Lucille, though she may have lost her loved one music always bring him back to her.
Bruno comforts Lucille after she finds out that her husband has been having extramarital affairs and a lovechild.
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