The only good anti-communist is a FRENCH anti-Communist...
That's something I've believed since first reading Raymond Aron. This Gallic tradition has continued through Bernard Henry-Levy and now I'm adding French director Regis Wagnier to my list, and my Netflix queue: "Indochine" comes next.
The film stars Sandrine Bonnaire and Catherine Deneuve. It's about idealistic Communists who return from Paris to the USSR in 1946 to help build up socialism in the wake of WWII. What they find, instead, is suffering they never imagined.
The film has a certain French quality, especially in the relationships; and yet, there is something Russian there, too. Filmed in Kiev, it really looks Russian, even when the faces seem French. The fear, paranoia, suspicion--even the dancing men of the Red Army Chorus--all very Russian. What's missing is a little bit of Russian warmth, which is somehow found in even the most shocking Russian films. The French are a bit more cerebral and rational, I guess. But the picture packs a wallop, all the same.
I won't spoil it by revealing the plot. At least it has a happy ending (in a really Russian movie, the hero would be shot, I would think).
It is really, really good. And I recommend it. Add it to your own Netflix queue.
