Worst World War One Film Ever - La France DVD

OK, I've seen some bad movies.  Haven't we all?  In terms of the war genre, La France has to be worst World War One movie ever.

The parade of WWI movies hasn't been historically spectacular either.  There have been few stand outs (the brilliant All Quiet on the Western Front comes to mind) but for the most part the WWI field of films is filled with mediocrity.

La France transcends all of this, in a very negative way.  The premise is that a woman, Camille, has a husband serving in the French infantry during the war to end all wars.  One day Camille receives a letter from him telling her never to contact him again.  The reason is clear. The horrors of war are stripping away the man he was during peacetime.

Camille then cuts her hair, dresses as a boy, at attaches herself to a small group of soldiers under the ruse of wanting to enlist.

The soldiers are war-weary and their performances aren't bad. It is the completely illogical and dissonant course this film takes that ultimately sinks the film.

This terrible WWI film unexpectedly breaks out into song about four times.  The soldiers, consistently dead pan and battle hardened, suddenly break out musical instruments and begin to sing songs.  The instruments appear out of nowhere. Where did these instruments come from? The songs are well harmonized as if these soldiers are actually a professional band. Doesn't this seem completely ridiculous and impossible since, eh, they are soldiers in a war? Plus, the songs are so out of place. They sing 1960's folk-like songs instead of actual WWI period pieces. Plus, the songs aren't even very good.  I mean, c'mon, who wants to listen to 1960's folk music anyway, unless, of course, you are from the 60's? Even if you are from the 60's, do you really want to hear 60's folk in a war film set in 1917 ?

There is no real effort throughout the film to find Camille's husband.  They just wander around. One time Camille asks a soldier about "the 30th", her husbands army unit. This is the only detective work she does during the movie. When the soldiers hear her ask this, they want to hang her thinking she is a spy. She suddenly hides and can't be found. The soldiers suddenly get real sick from the food they eat, Camille makes this potion from the woods to save them, and they are all friends again.

The end is so anticlimactic and disappointing, I'll spoil it here.  They soldiers are walking along a path with no one around. A quiet forest setting. Completely unexpected, Camille's husband is somehow walking in the other direction. Camille and her husband speak with no excitement. He tells her he broke out of a prisoner of war camp, even though she just rec'd a letter from him days ago. He then deserts, they go home, they fool around in bed, and the movie ends.

Dumb movie.

La France DVD (2007) is 1 hr 42 minutes, with about 12 total minutes of stupid songs. Written and directed by Serge Borzon