Set in Germany and France in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, (1914-1918), Frantz recalls the mourning period that follows great national tragedies as seen through the eyes of the war’s “lost generation”: Anna (21 year-old Paula Beer in a breakthrough performance), a bereft young German woman whose fiancé, Frantz, was killed during trench warfare, and Adrien (Pierre Niney, Yves Saint Laurent), a French veteran of the war who shows up mysteriously in her town, placing flowers on Frantz’s grave. Adrien’s presence is met with resistance by the small community still reeling from Germany’s defeat, yet Anna gradually gets closer to the handsome and melancholy young man, as she learns of his deep friendship with Frantz, conjured up in evocative flashbacks. What follows is a surprising exploration of how Ozon’s characters’ wrestle with their conflicting feelings – survivor’s guilt, anger at one’s losses, the overriding desire for happiness despite everything that has come before, and the longing for sexual, romantic and familial attachments. Ozon drew his inspiration from a post-WWI play by Maurice Rostand that inspired the 1932 film adaption by Ernst Lubitsch under the title Broken Lullaby.
NYT Critics' Pick. "Lyrically seductive."
Stephen Holden
The New York Times
“Exquisite and haunting…one of the talented director Francois Ozon’s very best films.”
Dennis Dermody
Paper
"A richly imagined and superbly assembled period piece."
Boyd van Hoeij
The Hollywood Reporter
"Astonishingly beautiful and inquisitive. it’s impossible to deny the sheer narrative sophistication.”
Eric Kohn
Indiewire
“Intellectually stimulating and emotionally satisfying.”
Jonathan Romney
Screen Daily
Winner - Top Foreign Film, 2017 National Board Review
Winner - Best Cinematography (Pascal Marti), 42nd César Awards
Winner - Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actress (Paula Beer), 2016 Venice Film Festival
Winner - Grand Jury Prize for Best Performance International Narrative (Paula Beer) & Best International Feature, 2017 Gasparilla International Film Festival
Official Selection - 2017 Film Society of Lincoln Center's Rendez-Vous with French Cinema
Spotlight Selection - 2017 Sundance Film Festival
Official Selection - 2016
Telluride Film FestivalOfficial Selection - 2016 Toronto International Film Festival
