AN IRREPRESSIBLE WOMAN/JE NE REVE QUE DE VOUS


France, 2019, 102 minutes, Colour.
Elsa Zylberstein, Hippolyte Girardot, Emilie Dequenne, Mathilda May, Gregori Derangere, Thomas Chabrol, Stephane Bissot, Philippe Torreton, Jerome Deschamps, Fabrice Adde.
Directed by Laurent Heynemann.

The English title certainly captures the spirit of the central character, Janot Reichenburger, played with passionate intensity by Elsa Zylberstein, while the French title, the title of the song sung during the film, also by Janot, highlights her relationship with Leon Blum.

While the film opens in 1943 in Germany, Buchanfeld, a mansion owned by Himmler, the audience who does not know about Janot will be puzzled. She arrives with German soldiers – and the narrative goes into flashback.

In 1940, Janot meets with her first husband and her son. The husband intends to escape to Brazil and to be joined by his son who will leave France for New York with Janot’s second husband. There are tickets for her but she refuses to go. The reason for her refusal is her passion. She has been in admiration of former French premier, Leon Blum, a champion of social rights during the 1930s. She has been infatuated him since she first saw him when she was 16 and, after the death of his wife, wants to be with him.

The central action of the film shows the war but without any battle sequences. It is the story of Blum, his being apprehended, blamed by the Vichy government for France’s defeat by the Germans, but the Nazis wanting to condemn him for bringing on the war. He is interned in various prisons, for a long time one in the Pyrenees, with harsh conditions for an elderly man. Other government ministers, of both right and left, and with him, awaiting trial.

Janot is refused permission to see him but eventually is and passionate meetings. In the meantime, she has encountered Blum’s daughter-in-law, Renée (a sympathetic and strong performance from Emilie Dequenne) who is hostile, but carries letters to and from, eventually sharing the experience with Janot. The film also shows the number of wives, friends and daughters who live in the hotels near the prisoners, especially during the court cases.

Eventually, Blum is transferred to Buchenvald and after some negotiations, Janot is allowed to join him – where they are married by the Nazi commander. They experience the Allied bombing of Buchenvald and learn what the concentration camp really was.

The film is rather more swift than expected at the end, their survival, Janot’s son killed in action, yet leaving a daughter. Credits information indicate the work that both Blum and Janot did after the war, Janot surviving to 1989.

A different perspective on France and its experienced during the war, a reminder of French political history.

1. The two titles? The different emphases on Janot, her passion, her focus on Leon Blum?

2. France in the 1940s, the German invasion, the Vichy government, politics, martial The town, Leon Bloom and his career as Premier, social reform, the left, Jewish? The previous government, right and left wing, persecuted by the Vichy government, being blamed by the Germans?

3. The opening, you know in the car, the troops, arriving at Himmler’s mansion, Jerome welcoming her? Her voice-over of the letter to her grandchild? The narrative going into flashback? Questions raised?

4. Jeanne and her personality, strong and passionate, her first marriage to Torres, the divorce, her son, Georges, her second marriage to Reichenbach? Yet, her long obsession with Leon Blum, since she was 16, his being married, her divorces, her relationship with him?

5. The complexities of escaping from France, her husband going to New York, buying the ticket for her, her refusal to go, seeing her first husband, his going to Brazil? Georges, wanting to fight, going to New York, the later news of his going to Brazil? The news of her husband’s suicide in New York? The final news of Georges being killed in action?

6. The portrait of Leon Blum, age, experience, as Premier, a genial manner, principles? His marriage, widower? His son, in action, in the concentration camp? His relationship with Renée? His granddaughter? His passionate love for Janot?

7. The government treatment of Blum? His being free, at his home, being taken, internment, the different prisons, in the Pyrenees? For the court case? Isolation, with the other members of parliament, Mandel of the right wing and yet their bonding? News of political assassinations? The visits by Janot, Renee and her transporting the letters? Permits? The meetings? The transfer to Buchenvald? With Mandel? Life in Himmler’s château?

8. Janot, passionate, refused permits, the clashes with Renée? Renee and her carrying the letters? The incident with the bike chain? In the town, shared accommodation, the other wives and daughters? To the Pyrenees? The importance of her visits to Blum, the outpouring of passion?

9. Renee, quieter personality, acquired dress compared with Janot’s wardrobe, hostility, her husband a prisoner, her daughter in Switzerland, the connection with Blum? The gradual bonding with Janot? The visits, the shared room, in the dining room, a more peaceful woman?

10. The lawyer, the documents, women not allowed in the court, the information, the Resistance and the printing out of the hearings?

11. The time passing, from 1940 to 1943? The war but there not being any war sequences in this film? A different tone?

12. The singer married to the Minister, with the other women, paying her board by singing in the dining room? Mandel’s wife, Jewish actress, his daughter?

13. Janot, going to the Minister, persuading him to give her a pass, the travel to Buchenvald?

14. Life in the mansion, the walks, the soldiers, Jerome as the Jehovah Witness and conscientious objector, Mandel and memories of his wife and daughter? His being taken out, executed? Jerome’s birthday celebration, peeling the vegetables, domestic tone? Permission for the marriage, the Nazi official, the celebration?

15. The bombing, the Allies, the bombing of the concentration camp, and Janot and their realising what the camp was?

16. The quick move to the ending, repatriation at the end of the war, the news of Georges’ death, his daughter coming? And the information about their work after the war?