Captain Conan

1918. The war ends on the Western Front but not in the Balkans. Captain Conan commands not a regular unit but a raiding party: men who work at night with knives and grenades. When the armistice comes, nobody knows what to do with them, because killing is the only trade they were taught. Bertrand Tavernier directs. Philippe Torreton plays Conan and Samuel Le Bihan his friend Norbert, with François Berléand and Claude Rich in support. The source is Roger Vercel's novel, which won the Prix Goncourt in 1934. Tavernier cast Torreton out of the Comédie-Française, having already directed him in L.627 and L'Appât. It paid: Torreton took the César for Best Actor, and Tavernier won Best Director, sharing it in a tie with Patrice Leconte for Ridicule. The film picked up six further nominations. Its actual subject is not combat but what comes after. In peacetime these men become criminals, and the behaviour that earned a medal yesterday goes before a court today. Who it is for: anyone interested in the forgotten fronts of the First World War and in the machinery of military justice. Who it is not for: viewers looking for heroism. Conan is not likeable, and the film has no interest in excusing him.