The setting is Normandy, where a group of D-Day veterans, two British and one American, are returning for the 50th anniversary of the invasion. This is a movie for anyone who loves to watch great acting, with an all-star cast playing seemingly ordinary people, each with his or her own extraordinary spark. The late, great Sir Alec Guiness, whose career was made largely on his impeccable gift of speech, here plays a man practically mute. Leo McKern, of "Rumpole" fame, incarnates a crusty old Brit with his inimitable sparkle and complexity. Lauren Bacall plays her part with understated grace, her aged but still vivid beauty enhancing the enigma of her presence in this group--a little mystery that is revealed in the poignant final scene. Jeanne Moreau plays an elderly floozy whose wartime favours still bulk understandably large in the fond memories of these old men. The high point of film for me was her singing of "La Vie en Rose" in the middle of a crowded restaurant--unforgettable!
Review of A Foreign Field
