The Return Of Martin Guerre

If you think courtship and romance are weird today, imagine what they were like in rural France in 1538. No matter how awkward your first sexual experience was it's unlikely all your neighbors dressed you up like a bear, complete with enormous fake genitals, and chased you around town. It's also unlikely that everyone you knew gathered around your bed and wished you well just before you did the deed.

But this is what happens to a 14 year-old boy in "The Return of Martin Guerre," an acclaimed medieval courtroom drama now in a pristine 4K restoration.

Meticulously researched detailed throughout, this 1982 French film written, produced and directed by Daniel Vigne tells the story of a young, peasant man who leaves his village to see the world. More importantly, it follows the village he leaves and the way they welcome back their prodigal with open arms, even though he's most likely not the same man who left them.

Still, no one from Artigat, a remote village in the Pyrenees, suspects that Martin Guerre (brilliantly portrayed by Gerard Depardieu) is anyone other than he says he is, even though the big handsome man who returns is very different from the cringing boy that ran away 9 years earlier and even though there are things this man can't remember about the boy he once was or the life he once led. The community wants Martin Guerre to be the man claims to be – up until the point he starts asking for money.

When Guerre looks for profits on his rightful inheritance, his uncle takes him to trial and events spiral out of control. The one person who defends his identity is the person who should know him best, his wife Bertrande de Rols (Nathalie Baye).

Natalie Zemon Davis, a professor at Princeton University has meticulously researched this famous case of 16th Century imposture and recounted it along with Vigne and Jean-Claude Carri�re. Beyond the astounding costume and production design, the realistic detail and the authentic musical score, this story is griping (inspiring many adaptations in other languages) and the acting is lesson in naturalism.

This Blu-ray includes an optional English language dialogue track, a discussion with Baye and two different trailers.

"The Return of Martin Guerre"
Blu-ray $30.98
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