France 2017, 138 mins (dir. Xavier Beauvois) starring Nathalie Baye, Iris Bry and Laura Smet.
Les Gardiennes is based on Ernest Perochon’s 1925 novel, set in 1915 in the Deux-Sevres region of Western France. It tells of the female guardians who worked the land in France during the First World War. This beautifully-shot film, with memorable Hardyesque landscapes, depicts the daily hardships of farming life, whilst the sorely-missed family men are fighting on the front. Into this farming community comes an orphaned girl whose innocent energy and beauty transforms the life of the family who employ her. Romance blossoms but the rules of inheritance apply and the cruelty of war is not confined to the battlefield. This is a vivid and magical film, filled with the moral questions of times past and present. The beautiful concluding song is the music of regret and acceptance.