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Life and Nothing But
Life and Nothing But
8.2
/10
372 Ratings

LIFE AND NOTHING BUT

La vie et rien d'autre

Directed by Bertrand Tavernier
France, 1989
Drama, War

Synopsis

Two years after WWI, a cynical major has been tasked with identifying thousands of fallen French soldiers. He forms a bond with two women who are looking for their missing loved ones. One day, his hierarchy asks him to pick the soldier who will be buried under the grave of the Unknown Warrior.

Synopsis

Two years after WWI, a cynical major has been tasked with identifying thousands of fallen French soldiers. He forms a bond with two women who are looking for their missing loved ones. One day, his hierarchy asks him to pick the soldier who will be buried under the grave of the Unknown Warrior.

Our take

Director Bertrand Tavernier, who’s won more Césars and festival awards around Europe than we can count, is a master of lush, literary period pieces. This ravishing widescreen epic, avoiding easy sentimentality, is 80s arthouse prestige at its best—a masterpiece, said critic David Thomson!