Colonel Chabert (1994)
When Colonel Chabert returns from the war, he discovers that he has lost everything.
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A few years after the Bourbon restoration, a strange man appears at a prominent lawyer's office and claims he is colonel Chabert, a highly regarded cavalry officer, declared dead during the battle of Eylau. He is faced with skepticism by everyone, especially his widow who has married an aristocrat and moved on with her life.

The most recent adaptation of Balzac's famous novella is a pretty good movie. Buoyed by a trio of captivating characters, and corresponding strong performances, it tells a sad but believable tale of honor, betrayal, and mortality. The main problem is that director Yves Angelo seems content to have the excellent source material do all the heavy lifting and takes almost no creative risks that could…

Some good performances here… but the most important thing in this movie is Fabrice Luchini. No one has been able to embody the essence of a Balzacian hero to this degree before or since. The movie itself is a bit clunky, and the changes from the book actually made the plot more tedious and less cinematic, but it overall feels like Balzac. And Luchini is mesmerizing.

Strong acting performance from the entire main cast, especially from Depardieu. The opening sequence from this film is gruesome and horrifying as it depicts death and horror in a realistic and gruesome way. Napoleons army faced of against the Russians and during this battle colonel chaubert played by Depardieu is pronounced dead and buried. He survives the battle and ten years later after he has recovered, he returns to Paris. His wife has inherited his fortune and remarried. This is the main conflict of the movie as Chaubert hires a lawyer to mediate between both parties so Chaubert can get some of his fortune back and at the same time his identity and honour.

The script is well writen and interesting. Above all the acting was great and made the characters interesting.

Sat there watching this and me housemate bursts in. Says he wants to show me a clip from Moana. I pause this film and say yeah go on then. I've not seen Moana. He shows me this scene where there's this big ass crab-snail-thing dabbing about his shiny arse. He wanted me to look at how the gleam of his arse moves on the wall as he moves and he thought it was cool. I recognised the voice as Jemaine Clement and said he might like Flight of the Concords. He said he'd not heard of that actor or show and so he doesn't think he'll watch it.

This film was good. I like Depardieu. The lawyer was cool in a cute way x