Week-End à Zuydcoote (1964)
Genre: Drama / War
Duration: 119 minuten
Alternative titles: Weekend at Dunkirk / Weekend bij Duinkerken
Country:
France / Italy
Directed by: Henri Verneuil
Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Catherine Spaak and Georges Géret
IMDb score:
6,9 (2.249)
Releasedate: 18 December 1964
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Week-End à Zuydcoote plot
"Only once before, in The Longest Day, has a motion picture achieved such greatness !"
Story about the battle of Dunkirk at the beginning of the Second World War, in which a group of French and British soldiers suffer heavy losses and have to flee to England.
Actors and actresses
Julien Maillat
Jeanne
Pinot
Pierson
Alexandre
Dhéry
Le capitaine Robinson
Le caporal-chef réceptionniste
Hélène, la femme d'Atkins
Paul
Reviews & comments
Madecineman (moderator films)
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- 7484 messages
- 1718 votes
Not as bad as the average here suggests, but this is not really a masterpiece either.
Jean-Paul Belmondo is the somewhat more opportunistic French soldier who is (literally) stranded on a narrow stretch of coast. Trapped between the enemy German troops on one side and the North Sea on the other, he wanders somewhat aimlessly through this no man's land.
Together with his buddies, he tries to make the best of it and tries to get to England. During his wanderings he encounters all kinds of people, whatever is stuck there. The beginning of the film reminded me a bit of a kind of primal version of Jarhead, soldiers who seem mostly bored.
The problem with the film is that it doesn't really unfold all that well. It is all, just like the wanderings of the main character, quite directionless and the encounters are often not very interesting and superficially developed. Even the relationship with Jeanne, who works as a kind of catalyst in the story, is quite minimalistic.
You can see the character of Belmondo getting more and more cynical, angry and confused through the whole thing and with the approach of the German tropics the pressure on the men is increasing. It's a pity that it all bubbles too much to the surface. Nowhere does this film manage to grow into a strong and fascinating character study. It still lacks depth and that is a shame because cinematographically the film is quite decent. The strip of land where the French and English are trapped looks credible and spooky with all that abandoned military equipment and damaged buildings. Plus, this movie probably has more explosions than Rambo 
3*
Translated from Dutch · View original
thunderball
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- 5900 messages
- 1420 votes
Watched this tonight.
Pretty good (anti-)war film about French soldier Belmondo who in 1940 on the coast near Dunkirk makes attempts to come to England and meets all kinds of mainly strange types and actually doesn't get along.
Beautifully portrayed, especially the mass scenes on the beach, beautiful colors, good actors and beautiful music,
but, precisely because there is not a real storyline further in it, it all continues to go off and on and because, except Belmondo himself, all other characters are only briefly mentioned, because the main character, then continues, the story structure is more like a kind of road movie in disguise.
A big seven, or 3.5 stars.
Translated from Dutch · View original
T.O.
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- 2428 messages
- 2806 votes
Remarkably great production. You do miss some specific historical context at the beginning of the film, even though a few things become clear along the way.
Despite the impressive sets and the many explosions, the emphasis is actually rather on reflections on war, especially of the character of the ever-recalcitrant Belmondo.
In that respect, quite an original and mature film, although it does get a bit long-winded at times due to the lack of a tight storyline.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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