Carillons sans joie

"Carillons sans joie " was Charles Brabant's last theatrically released work and his only war movie ;his most intersesting works were "la p.....respectueuse " from Sartre and a sultry thriller " le piège" .

Tunisia ,a country then under the protectorate of France 1942: the Americans have just landed in Africa .French soldiers are in charge of protecting a bridge ,of preventing anyone from crossing it.German soldiers arrive and it's a harrowing dilemma for the French : the armistice was signed in 1940 and they are under the government of Vichy's orders ,but they finally take a rebel stand and with the news that the Americans are to support them any hour now,some of them have just arrived and announces that the troops are coming soon .Using first a subterfuge -they make believe that they are much more numerous than they seem to be - ,they play for time .But the fight is inevitable. Near the bridge there's a small Jews community whose fate depends on the outcome of the fight.

Gislain Cloquet's cinematography is impressive , with a good sense of space ; acting is excellent :Paul Meurisse, the captain crossing the bridge on his white horse has style; Raymond Pellegrin is convincing as a NCO who would never collude with the ennemy; Dany Carrel is touching as the young Jewish girl who falls for him.Three languages (French ,German and English) are used ,which shows respect for the audience .

When it was released ,the movie was dismissed as jingoistic : and however, the ending is another proof of the absurdity of war .

In the book "Les carillons sans..." by Ch. Bourgeon, the latter refers to his meeting with my father Louis Krame (Kramm) - his saver of life; the description of this encounter covers the pages from 241 thru 262 approx. What I am interested in is to find out whether or not this meeting is mentioned or in any way incorporated in the same-titled movie. If that is the case and you possess this movie, then I would hereby ask you to copy it for me on DVD Medium. That would be very kind. But please remember that in Germany we go by the PAL Standard and Regional Code 2. Of course, I will reimburse you on whatever the cost of the copying, postage etc.

Sincerely Wolfgang Kramm Bahnhofstrasse 3 56130 Bad Ems Germany

I settled in to watch this movie not expecting much because of its awkward almost banal title; BELLS WITHOUT JOY. Its well-known cast is what convinced me to bother with it at all. The best performance is by Paul Meurisse of LES DIABOLIQUES. By film's end I was genuinely moved by its very gradual build up of character, tension and tight plot. The first three quarters of this true-life story feature no battle scenes. Instead, we get a stand-off involving a small troop of clever French soldiers guarding a small Tunisian town from a large, well-armed division of German soldiers. The only hope for the town is a large advancing army of American soldiers fifty miles away that was sent to free all of Tunisia from German threat. Adding to the peril is the fact that many of the townspeople are Jewish as they would most definitely be mercilessly slaughtered at the hands of the German soldiers. Well-choreographed battle scenes add to the excitement of the explosive last act which looks particularly good in widescreen format.

Thankfully, German characters speak in German with subtitles. Even the American characters sound American, rare for a European movie of that era. One stand out scene involves an African-American soldier playing a soulful jazz tune on his company bugle while a white soldier in his desegregated platoon explains to a French ally that he is from a sadly segregated Louisina.

I would rate this film up there with another fine French effort in the war movie genre; TAXI FOR TOBRUK. Catch this one if you can.