(rated R, 112 mins)
From sweet ‘Chocolat’ to a semi-sweet, almost bitter tale that gives new meaning to the words I love you to death. It’s the romantic French (sub-titled) story of Juliette Binoche, as Madame La, wife of the Captain (Daniel Auteuil) who befriends a fisherman on death row. One night the fisherman Neel August (Emir Kusturica), and his sidekick pal accidentally kill an old Captain after one too many drinks at the local bar (think the Crow’s Nest in the ‘Perfect Storm’). Awaiting the guillotine and executioner from France (these folks live in Newfoundland), Neel manages to finagle his way into the hearts of the town, growing indispensable to both the tiny community and to the softer side of Madame La. Under French military commandment of the Captain and his wife, Neel does hard labor (builds a greenhouse), as the questions of the death penalty, provocative examination of grander passions and their consequences, set the tone for a gripping yet gentle movie that should not be missed. We learn that politics and blackmail not only take place in Washington, but date back to 1850 in this small remote country. It should be noted that in old French slang, the guillotine was called ‘the widow’.
