The Guardians is the English title of a French historical drama which premiered in 2017.
It is about life on a farm in the western part of France during World War One and the first two years after the end of the war. The time frame runs from 1915 to 1920.
The men have left the farm to be soldiers in the war against Germany. The work that must be done on the farm is done by women.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Original French title: Les Guardiennes
** Directed by Xavier Beauvois
** Screenplay written by Marie-Julie Maille
** Based on a book published in 1924 by the French author Ernest Pérochon (1885-1942)
** Available via Amazon Prime Video
** Released on DVD in 2018
** Run time: 138 minutes
The cast includes the following:
The first group
** Nathalie Baye as Hortense Sandrail (the mother)
** Gilbert Bonneau as Henri Sandrail (the father)
** Nicolas Giraud as Constant Sandrail (son) (soldier)
** Cyril Descours as George Sandrail (son) (soldier)
** Laura Smet as Solange (daughter) (wife of Clovis)
** Olivier Rabourdin as Clovis (husband of Solange) (soldier)
The second group
** Mathilde Viseux as Marguerite (a local woman)
** Iris Bry as Francine Riant (a farm hand)
** Marie-Julie Maille as La Monette (a local woman whose husband is a soldier in the war)
** Madeleine Beauvois as Jeanne (daughter of La Monette)
This historical drama can be described as a family affair for two reasons:
(1) In the drama, Solange is the daughter of Hortense. In the real world, Laura Smet (who plays Solange) is the daughter of Nathalie Baye (who plays Hortense).
(2) In the drama, Madeleine Beauvois plays Jeanne (the daughter of La Monette). In the real world, Madeleine is the daughter of Xavier Beauvois (the director of the drama).
The English title is unfortunate, because the word “Guardian” or “Guardians” is used as the title of several movies or television series.
It is confusing when many products have the same or a similar title.
The French title Les guardiennes is a feminine form of the word. Therefore, a better translation
of the French title is:
The Female Guardians
An alternative translation is The Caretakers.
The women who work on the farm are described as guardians, because they guard or protect French culture, French traditions, and the French way of life, while the men are at the front.
While fictional, the story is placed in a historical context, which seems to be realistic. In this case, the context is World War One and the first two years after the end of the war.
I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. This is why I am not going to say much about what happens in this drama. I will merely mention a few basic facts:
The farm (Le Paridier) is located in the western part of France, far from the front where French and German soldiers are killing each other in a war of attrition that began in 1914. The men have left the farm in order to go to war against Germany.
In this drama, we see how the women who are left behind continue the work that must be done:
** We see the farm and the work in the summer season
** We see the farm and the work in the winter season
In 1915, when Hortense wants to hire a worker, she is told there are no male workers available. But a young female worker is available: Francine.
Hortense decides to hire Francine, who turns out to be a hard worker. After a while, she almost becomes a member of the family.
In this drama, we also see what happens when the men return to the farm for a brief visit, when they have permission to go on leave.
They stay for a few days. When it is time to go, they return to the front. Before leaving they say:
“Perhaps I will not come back.”
The men appear one by one: first Constant, next Clovis, and finally George.
They are changed men. Changed because of the war. The women can hardly recognize them.
Towards the end of the war – in 1917 and 1918 – thousands of US soldiers arrive in France to support the French army. Some of them are based near the farm.
In this drama, we see what happens when some of the American soldiers show up to buy farm products.
In the village school, the children recite a poem about the French soldiers and the German soldiers.
The French are heroes, while the Germans are villains. The German soldiers are monsters who must and will be defeated by the French army.
This poem is a repetition of government propaganda. The French soldiers do not talk like this.
Constant says:
“One day we fight and advance 30 feet. The next day the Germans fight back and we surrender the 30 feet we gained the day before. And we are not allowed to say anything about it.”
In short: the war is madness. Soldiers are being killed on both sides, while the front moves slightly back and forth, but basically nothing changes.
Why?
For what?
Clovis says:
“The Germans are not monsters. They are farmers and workers just like us.”
In short: the war is madness. French and German farmers and workers are killing each other every day!
Why?
For what?
This is how the drama begins, and this is where my presentation ends. If you want to know what happens with the people who are connected with Le Paridier, you will have to watch the drama (or read the book) all the way to the end.
What do reviewers say about this drama?
Here are the results of three review aggregators:
** 67 per cent = IMDb
** 57 per cent = Meta (the audience)
** 81 per cent = Meta (the critics)
** 54 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the audience)
** 94 per cent = Rotten Tomatoes (the critics)
As you can see, the ratings are mixed. When you look at Meta and Rotten Tomatoes, you can see that there is a gap between the general audience and the professional critics: the audience does not care much for this drama, while the critics are quite impressed.
I suspect the audience offers low ratings, because the pace is rather slow. Many reviewers say this drama is boring. Nothing happens! But the critics do not mind the slow pace.
On the contrary: they see the slow pace as a form of art, which allows us to follow the life on the farm in great detail from one season to the next. This is why they offer much better reviews than the audience.
On Amazon France there are at the moment more than 190 ratings of this product, more than 60 with reviews.
The average rating is 4.4 stars which corresponds to a rating of 88 percent.
In my opinion, the average rating on Amazon is a bit too high. Let me explain:
Like the critics, I can accept the slow pace, but I have another complaint to make: the characters are not developed very well, even though the drama runs for more than two hours.
Why not?
Because the dialogue is so limited. The characters do not say much to each other, even though there is much to talk about. Not only trivial details of daily life, but important topics.
The first part of the drama seems to say the world would be a much better place, if only women were in charge. Men make war, while women work on the farm and make sure that life can go on. If only women ruled the world, there would never be a war.
The second part of the drama seems to have a completely different message: some of the women are just as bad as the men. While they do not fight with guns and bullets, they use malicious gossip and harsh words.
At least one woman is just as ruthless as a general who sends his soldiers into a deadly war. I am not going to tell you who she is and what she does. You can watch the drama and find out for yourself.
This historical drama has an interesting angle, because we do not see the soldiers and the battles at the front (except for two brief moments). Instead, we see the civilians and their lives behind the front.
I like this drama and I want to give it a good rating, but as I have explained, there is a flaw, which cannot be ignored. I have to remove one star because of this flaw.
This is why I think this product deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).
*****
The Guardians
The English title of the French historical drama
(2017)
*****
Les Guardiennes
A historical novel
by Ernest Pérochon
(1924)
*****
The French author Ernest Pérochon
(1885-1942)
*****
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