The Horseman on the Roof [DVD] [1996]

The Horseman on the Roof has finally emerged on DVD in an uncut widescreen version with English subtitles in the UK (the Region 1 disc is typically MiramAxed by more than a quarter of an hour), and it's well worth the wait.

Jean-Paul Rappeneau's grand romantic adventure starts off with Italian exile Olivier Martinez on the run from Austrian assassins until an outbreak of cholera outruns them both, turning the beautiful countryside into a treacherous series of army roadblocks, deadly quarantine areas and a feeding ground for flocks of crows. It's an episodic affair - leading lady Juliette Binoche isn't even introduced until a third into the film - but its shot through with such lavish old-fashioned romanticism that that's not really a problem. Indeed, not even the lack of a proper ending can do much damage.

As with Cyrano De Bergerac, Rappeneau shows a real understanding of movement and color, with a wonderful use of both the landscape of a semi-mythical Provence and the full width of the Scope screen. En route there are a slew of nice little cameos (Gerard Depardieu, Jean Yanne, Isabelle Carre) and memorable moments, adding up to a satisfyingly old fashioned epic that stands up well to repeated viewings (this is the fourth time I've seen it). The UK DVD also comes with a particularly good 28-minute interview with Rappeneau.

Fans of Olivier Martinez will not be disappointed with this offering which shot him to stardom in France. He and Juliette Binoche deliver excellent performances in this story. Martinez plays Angelo, a handsome hussar on the run from Austrian assassins. On his way to Italy he meets Pauline, and the two travel through cholera ridden France, trying to avoid the French army. She is looking for her missing husband, something which clearly upsets Angelo, as he struggles to contain his feelings. The relationship between the two keeps the viewer in suspense, right until the end. He plays a complete gentleman, and it is refreshing that they do not even kiss, yet there is unmistakeable attraction between the two. The ending is surprising, and full of twists, but leaves the viewer wanting more. The film sees a good combination of dry humour, as well as sadness. It is an excellent, well shot film, with captivating scenery. Well worth watching.

This is a chase movie. It opens in the 1830s in Aix-en-Provence with the town en fête, Italian nationalists are in exile there plotting a return to oppose Austrian rule of Italy. An Austrian special forces team is sent to clip them. For all they drive in a coach and use flintlock pistols they are recognisably brothers under the skin with assassins from any modern movie, aided by their otherness (they speak in German). One Italian is executed but the second (a colonel of hussars and our hero) escapes and the chase is on. It is a chase across a world that has long gone, as if Flashman were pursued through Hardy country. The farming communities are beautifully observed; one can feel the heat of the harvest fields, one joins the communal tables, I can recognise it from conversation with my grandparents.

But the chase is not just to be from the Habsburg Hit Squad because this is the year of the cholera. We encounter first the dead, then the deranged animals and emboldened carrion eaters. Then whole towns are driven mad. Our hero is pursued by pestilence, hysteria and Austrians; a maxed up chase movie. Fortunately the hero (played by Olivier Martinez) is an action type escaping by grasping at chances and not giving in; a man driven to courage by his mother's upbraiding. He eventually meets our heroine, a young noblewoman who is trying to get back to her husband in Alpine France. The rest of their journey is just as eventful as they are now pursued by the French authorities (cue some wonderful uniforms) anxious to quarantine everyone. At a low point, in a Hitchcockian moment, they are even attacked by birds. It is as if the stars in their very courses fight against our heroes.

As with all good chase movies the terrain changes as the pursued flee. In this case we move upwards away from the corruption of the warm plains to the severe purity of the cold uplands (where the plague is less virulent). There is a change not only of terrain but of life-style, building and farming. Like a long stage in the Tour de France we see dramatic changes in a short period. At some stages it begins to resemble an apocalypse movie; there is no atom bomb or outbreak of zombies but at times you will recognise the similarity. This is all made even starker by the way this world is both medieval and modern at the same times. The clothing and some of the class structure could be late Victorian - a scientific age. Yet the peasantry and the ignorance and fear of what is causing La Peste feel much older.

Horseman on the Roof is a lush production, dripping with historical detail. At just over two hours it has time to develop its theme and the actors with which to do it. It is a very good film indeed.