TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

gavin6942 Francois comes back to his home village in France after more than a decade. He notices that the village has not changed much, but the people have, especially his old friend Serge who has become a drunkard. Francois now tries to find out what happened to him and tries to help him.It has been cited as the first product of the Nouvelle Vague, or French New Wave, film movement. The film is often compared with Chabrol's subsequent film "Les Cousins", which also features Jean-Claude Brialy and Gérard Blain. Perhaps I am mistaken, but "Cousins" is the film that is better known today and more highly praised. But, of course, it was also more expensive to make, so we couldn't have "Cousins" if "Serge" had not been a success.The film initially ran to 2 hours and 35 minutes, though Chabrol cut a great deal of quasi-documentary material to reduce the running time, a decision he later regretted. Where exactly that footage is now, I have no idea, because the version released by Criterion is a modest 99 minutes. This would mean an extra 45 minutes may exist somewhere.

tomgillespie2002 Questionably considered the first entry in the Nouvelle Vague, or French New Wave, movement, Claude Chabrol's debut feature serves more as a precursor to the highly influential approach to film- making. While Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard broke new ground and had surprising international success with The 400 Blows (1959) and A Bout de Soufflé (1960) respectively, Le Beau Serge still retains a classical feel. Still, Chabrol's self-financing, on- location shooting, unorthodox editing and the use of non- professional actors proved to be highly influential to the Cahiers du Cinema crew and the first of its kind.After more than a decade away from his home town, city boy Francois (Jean-Claude Brialy) returns to Sardent for the winter to rest and recover from a recent bout of life-threatening illness. Upon arrival, he notices that the place has barely changed but is oddly deserted, with only a handful of his old friends and acquaintances remaining. One who has remained is Serge (Gerard Blain), Francois' former best friend. The man once dubbed 'handsome Serge' has now been reduced to a bitter alcoholic, trapped in an unhappy marriage with Yvonne (Michele Meritz) who he blames for the loss of his child. Finding himself now at odds with small-town life, Francois still feels compelled to help his old friend.Despite the odd flash of New Wave characteristics, Le Beau Serge shares more in common with the Neo-Realist movement in post-World War II Italy and the 'angry young man' films that would pepper Hollywood throughout the 50's. Chabrol, who grew up in Sardent, captures the crumbling town with both nostalgia and sadness. While obviously fond and whimsical of such a life, Francois' character feels oddly isolated in the town he once called home, unable to understand how accepting its inhabitants are of their inconsequential existence. The narrative drags in places, but this is both a funny and powerful film, especially if you hail from similar small-town beginnings. Chabrol would build his career on thrillers, but his debut shares a sensitive and socially insightful side rarely seen from the director.

dlee2012 Whilst some consider this film the first offering from the nouvelle vague movement, in truth it shares only some hallmarks with the offerings Godard, Truffaut and colleagues would start to produce over the next few years. Devoid of subversive humour or techniques 9such as jump-cuts) to highlight its artifice as a film, it is really a pre-cursor to the movement than a fully-fledged nouvelle vague film.Nevertheless, this is a good solid outing from Chabrol that meditates on how one can effectively be a good samaritan.The story tells of how a theology student returns to his home town after studying at a seminary for several years. Confronted with endemic social problems stemming from poverty and alcoholism he attempts to help his friends but, as happened to the protagonists in Beckett's Waiting for Godot, his charitable efforts are frequently rebuffed and the person he is trying to help lashes out against him.Where Chabrol does pre-empt the nouvelle vague movement is in his use of amateur actors, hand-held cameras and outdoor settings. This gives the film a documentary-like feel at times. It instills a feeling that this is a genuine record of the problems facing an extremely insular town gripped by despair due to an economic downturn, the hopes of its youth dashed. Having grown up in a similar environment in Tasmania some thirty years later, this reviewer can testify to the accuracy of what Chabrol is trying to convey with this work.Serge is also realistically drawn, at times warm and at times petty and jealous, lashing out at those around him in frustration as he is unable to face his own weaknesses, caught in the double-trap of alcoholism and a demeaning marriage to an uncaring woman.The protagonist, François, is a saintly martyr. He quickly finds that his academic training in the seminary is of little use in dealing with real-world problems and that he must give more and more of himself in his new calling to help those who cannot or will not help themselves.As another reviewer noted, there is a lot of doubling of scenes throughout this film, with the two cemetery scenes and two fights, in particular, reinforcing the structure of the film and developing Chabrols' themes.It can be argued that Serge and François are doppelgangers, one having escaped the trap of the town for the wider world and having kept his faith while the other remained behind and stagnated. In some ways, though, François has been kept in just as insular an environment in the form of the seminary and it is return to the outside world that lets him assimilate the two and truly blossom as a human being. Their doppelganger nature is also reflected in the fact that both Serge and François also have similar tastes and jealousies over women and conduct affairs at the same time.This small, quiet film is highly recommended in its portrayal of how the social fabric of a town can come unraveled when people give up hope and how the man who left returns to save them but can only do so when, Christ-like, he gives his all.

Stroheim-3 In what is considered the first film of the French New Wave, Claude Chabrol gives us a hypnotic vision of opposites in the same style as Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. Le Beau Serge follows the story of Francois, a young man who returns to his home town after twelve years, who finds that the town is dying. His landlady even tells him that everyone will be gone soon enough. In particular, he finds that a once-promising childhood friend, Serge, is trapped as an alcoholic in a loveless marriage.The brilliance of the film lies not in its storytelling (it is quite slow at parts) nor its acting (most of the actors were non-professionals) but in its structure. Everything is seen in doubles. Francois and Serge are two sides to the same coin. Each has an elder counterpart. Each has a female relation which seems to switch off at times. Serge has both a wife and a mistress who is at one point Francois girlfriend; at the same time, Serge's wife becomes morally attached to Francois. In addition, scenes are doubled; two scenes in the cemetary, two implied sexual scenes in Glomaud's home, two turns by Francois and Michel at the beginning, the list goes on and on. Furthermore, entire shots are doubled with different couples in each. It is brilliant.In addition, the film looks as if it were unpolished (which is a basic tenet of the New Wave), but it looks as if it was a director's first attempt. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.The greatest detraction (apart from the sometimes overacting) is the musical score. It is extremely discordant with regards to the movie. Minimal scenes such as Serge exiting his house are accompanies by percussion that sounds as if it were a harbinger of doom. I don't know if Chabrol wanted this, but it becomes irritating and causes the viewer to laugh at the film.As an added note, watch for the parallels of Francois and Serge with the town's children. The kids pop up everywhere.