LA GUERRA EST FINIE  (1966)  ****

Reviewed 7/14/00

One of Alain Resnais' least seen works owing to unavailability on video, much less DVD, and the rare occasion of its screenings, La guerra est finie is unfortunately often ignored when talking about the Resnais ouvre. The film is one of his best and most accessible. The story concerns a Spanish revolutionary named Diego (Yves Montand who also assumes the aliases Carlos, Domingo, and Chauvin during the film) entering France to stop his colleague Juan from going to Madrid and stumbling into a Franco-government trap. As he pursues the ephemeral Juan, he encounters a young girl named Nadine (Geneviève Bujold), whom he sleeps with, reunites with his long-time lover, Marianne (Ingrid Thulin), has doubts about his life's work, and becomes embroiled in a French terrorist plot.

While La guerra est finie falls into the political thriller genre, it defies genre conventions by focusing on character over plot, and the characters are so well-observed that even the smallest roles come off as lived-in. (with the exception of Diego's "bosses," the revolutionary ideologues who are basically mouthpieces.) Character details -- the mutual understanding between subversive auto mechanic Ramon and his domesticated wife, Nadine's youthful fascination with Diego drawn to the limit of exploding -- are nevertheless matched by plot details -- propagandistic literature stuffed in car doors, a document hidden in a tube of toothpaste.

The film ultimately rests upon Yves Montand's shoulders, and as Diego, he is never less than extraordinary. Montand expresses Diego's world-weariness in a simple glance or a pause, and although Diego on the whole is quite stoic, Montand nevertheless makes Diego's love, lust, confidence, and uncertainty powerfully clear. Almost matching Montand, Bujold brings a fierce eroticism to Nadine while looking as harmless as a puppy. Thulin's Marianne has a ordinariness that provides fewer subtleties than the other characters, but Thulin gives her a tenderness and thoughtfulness that makes clear what Diego sees in her.

Resnais directs masterfully drawing out both character and suspense. Resnais' roving camera continually emits vibes of paranoia as if Diego could be apprehended at any time. The framing furnishes the viewer with complete spatial orientation as Diego follows government agents who are in turn following Nadine. The more unique-to-Resnais style is characterized by occasional quick-cut flashforwards that anticipate the editing technique used in The Limey, but here they are used as a subjective gaze into Diego's mind's eye as he ponders the future. What makes La guerra est finie special most of all is how Resnais captures the small moments. After an episode in which Diego tells Marianne not to give up her job and follow him to Spain, Resnais' camera follows Marianne at a distance out to the kitchen where she pours herself a drink, then watches her return and stand outside the door, observing Diego in his sleep. The shot beautifully describes the domesticity of her life which, in Diego's mind, must forever remain beyond the boundaries of Diego's chosen occupation. The stunning ending upends such expectations as one character takes over the role of another to start the tale all over again.