FILM REVIEW: "See You Up There" sets high expectations for the Alliance Française French Film Festival
Premiering for the first time in Australian theatres, the historic crime drama See You Up There is an exciting insight into the spectacular program ahead for the 2018 Alliance Française French Film Festival.
Offering a fresh perspective on World War I, the film is an epic adaptation Pierre Lemaitre's winning novel Au revoir là-haut ('The Great Swindle''). Yet do not be mistaken; its intention is never to be sombre. The movie itself is the very definition of a French film, speckled with perfect amounts of irony and satire, as well as a tasteful ridicule of the rich and authoritarian. It's a sharp reflection of a 1920s French post-war society that rejects the macabre but celebrates its gains, while turning its men into corporate monsters.
The film centres around comrades Albert Maillard (played by director Albert Dupontel) and Edouard Péricourt (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart), who are survivors of the trenches. However, their battles have yet to be won. The two attempt to forge a new life in the absurd post-war era — but after being left disfigured while saving Albert's life, Edouard finds himself too ashamed to return to the life that once was.
Continually tarnished by the horrors of war and societal disdain, the protagonists fall into the money trap themselves — just like how millions of innocent French men fell blindly for their country.
Using his artistry, the masked Edouard embarks on a dangerous scam with Albert and a young orphaned friend, selling phony war memorials and splashing out on a lavish lifestyle. In short, the film is a huge middle finger to overpatriotism and the unscrupulous business of war, where men profiteer from tragedy.
However, for every plot twist and profound lesson it carries, See You Up There compensates with the hilarity of each sardonic situation. Death is certainly never a taboo, and violence is surely the answer — at least for our crafty villain Lieutenant Pradelle (Laurent Lafitte). Despite the unwitting cat and mouse chase between the central characters, the film is compelling in its most existential and touching moments.
See You Up There casts its eye over selflessness, cruelty, pride, approval, and betrayal — and how they all impede and intensify a shared desperation for love. As viewers will come to realise, each character is a prized pawn in the game that we call this magnificent tragicomedy.
The film wraps up superbly, to conclude that ethics truly do equate to honour — and that retribution will pay a visit to those who deserve it the most.
