Strange Gardens

Drawn from the successful French novel of the same name by Michel Quint, this is traditional Gallic fare, a warm-hearted revisiting, with comic inflections, of Resistance values, camaraderie and courage. Fifteen-year-old Lucien is at odds with his father Jacques, annoyed most notably by his solo clown routine. The tension increases, prompting Jacques' best friend André to reveal the roots of his pal's pursuit. Flashback to the duo's wartime exploits. Late arrivals to the Resistance, they sabotage a signal box, are rounded up and threatened with execution. While they await their fate with two other suspects in a pit overnight, a clowning German sentry shows them the power of high spirits, and a good dose of humanity. The morning will bring plot twists and developments that ground the legacy of courage on a number of fronts, as well as developing romantic narratives to general satisfaction. There are solid performances all round, and though no real formal surprises from Becker (still best known in Britain for his smouldering familial melodramas Elisa and One Deadly Summer), his heart, and that of the picture, are firmly in the right place, nurturing humour out of hardship and compassion out of conflict.