‘See You Up There’ released in Australian cinemas this week

See You Up There is set to be released in Australian cinemas this Thursday July 19.

The film, initially presented by the Alliance Française Film Festival in March and April this year, received impressive acclaim with a César award for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design and Best Cinematography plus a host of other nominations. From this Thursday you’ll be able to view the celebrated film in a selection of cinemas across the country.

For a taste, dive in to our critique of the film by Le Courrier Australien’s Journalist Valentine Sabouraud:

See You Up There : World War One in chiaroscuro

In the manic chaos of an infantry assault launched within of hours of the armistice, two soldiers form an unbreakable bond after saving each other’s lives. One half of the duo, Albert, is a modest accountant while the other, Edouard, is a quirky yet tortured artist – the unloved son of a wealthy man. Together, the pair plots to survive by hatching a bold plan to take revenge on all those who loved and benefitted from the war. Their crafty scam hits a roadblock when a wily villain, clever orphan, and a maelstrom of unsettled traumas push the protagonists close to the edge.

This adaptation of the eponymous novel by Pierre Lemaitre is presented with a gritty, bitter, yet tender, reading of the post-war period by Albert Dupontel. Above all, Dupontel succeeds in igniting the magic of cinema with a cast of enchanting actors swept up in the sweet madness of the period. The elaborate costumes are a visual delight, with Cécile Kretschmar’s masks evoke dreamlike scenescapes that linger in the mind days after viewing.

While See You Up There may primarily concern itself with the war of 1914-18, it grapples more intimately with the ‘7ème art’, or cinema, within which no coincidence, excess, audacious act or display of love is beyond the realm of possibility. We’re taken by the hand and taught the value of faith, fraternity, self-acceptance and forgiveness against the backdrop of unimaginable suffering – a beautiful lesson treated with delicacy and warmth.

Please note that this critique is completely detached from the book of Lemaitre, and written by a film lover whose penchant for cinema may not sit well with those less fond of novel/film adaptations.

Words by Valentine Sabouraud, translated by Paige McNamee.

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