FAREWELL, MR. HAFFMANN
****
Director: Fred Cavayé
Screenwriters: Fred Cavayé & Sarah Kaminsky, adapted from the play by Jean-Philippe Daguerre.
Principal cast:
Daniel Auteuil
Gilles Lellouche
Sara Giraudeau
Nikolai Kinski
Anne Coesens
Mathilde Bisson
Country: France/Belgium
Classification: M
Runtime: 115 mins.
Australian release date: 14 April 2022.
By adapting Jean-Philippe Daguerre’s Molière Award-winning play, director and co-writer Fred Cavayé has brought the World War II drama Farewell, Mr. Haffmann (Adieu Monsieur Haffmann) to the screen, telling a tale full of moral complexity. Set in Paris in 1941 and ‘42 when it was under German occupation, it’s the story of a Jewish jeweller, Joseph Haffmann (Daniel Auteuil), who sends his wife and children away to safety when the Nazis declare that Jews will have to register with the authorities. He intends to follow his family but first he has to make arrangements regarding the business, so he offers to ‘sell’ the shop to his impoverished employee, François Mercier (Gilles Lellouche), on the proviso that Mercier will ‘sell’ it back to him when the war is over. Thus, no money need change hands. Mercier and his wife Blanche (Sara Giraudeau) move into the flat above the showroom, although she is sceptical about the arrangement despite her husband’s obvious delight. Haffmann’s plans come undone, however, and he is unable to make his escape, returning to the shop and insisting the couple hide him in the basement until it’s safe to try again.
Unfortunately, Mercier’s jewellery-making skills do not match his boss’s, so when German Commandant Jünger (Nikolai Kinski) visits the store and orders a specific design for his French girlfriend (Mathilde Bisson), Mercier has to get Haffmann to come up with the goods. But when Haffmann learns that he is making jewellery for the enemy with stolen gems, the men’s relationship deteriorates and suddenly he realises that his basement is no longer a hideout, it’s a prison. There is another task Mercier wants his unwilling ‘guest’ to perform, too, and this one raises the moral stakes for all involved.
Cavayé and Kaminsky’s excellent screenplay brilliantly brings to the surface complicated issues of morality and empathy, plus it’s full of novel twists and turns in the lead up to its surprising conclusion. As events escalate, the level of insecurity increases and it becomes apparent that Mercier has entered into a Faustian pact. Auteuil explains: “It’s a relationship where the power dynamic immediately shifts. It’s what I liked when I first read the script. The deal Mr. Haffmann tries to strike is wild. But they were wild times, and nothing was normal. There was no “normal” behaviour. It was the law of survival. War and danger create a context in which you react however you can to the crazy violence around you.”
First screened at the recent Alliance Française French Film Festival around Australia, Farewell, Mr. Haffmann was one of the standout films programmed; now it’s getting a general release and for good reason. The atmosphere Cavayé creates within the household is one of quiet terror and desperation. The set is largely made up of the flat’s bedroom, basement and showroom, and the camera rarely ventures outside, thus creating a claustrophobic environment. COVID-19 lockdowns worked in Cavayé’s favour in achieving this mood, because the director says that, “When I started adapting the play, I wrote scenes in train stations, neighbours talking, street life… I had to reduce them because of the lockdown, but the truth is, I realized the footage was more compelling when we remained on the characters [in the house].” Filming in Cinemascope also helped; the camera didn’t have to move much to cover the action in the enclosed space.
Farewell, Mr. Haffmann should not to be missed and it’s worth a second viewing if you saw it at the festival, if only to revel in the fine performances delivered by this trio of extraordinarily talented French actors. Seeing Auteuil, Lellouche and Giraudeau together in what the director describes as “an intimate thriller” is a real treat.
Screenwriters: Fred Cavayé & Sarah Kaminsky, adapted from the play by Jean-Philippe Daguerre.
Principal cast:
Daniel Auteuil
Gilles Lellouche
Sara Giraudeau
Nikolai Kinski
Anne Coesens
Mathilde Bisson
Country: France/Belgium
Classification: M
Runtime: 115 mins.
Australian release date: 14 April 2022.
By adapting Jean-Philippe Daguerre’s Molière Award-winning play, director and co-writer Fred Cavayé has brought the World War II drama Farewell, Mr. Haffmann (Adieu Monsieur Haffmann) to the screen, telling a tale full of moral complexity. Set in Paris in 1941 and ‘42 when it was under German occupation, it’s the story of a Jewish jeweller, Joseph Haffmann (Daniel Auteuil), who sends his wife and children away to safety when the Nazis declare that Jews will have to register with the authorities. He intends to follow his family but first he has to make arrangements regarding the business, so he offers to ‘sell’ the shop to his impoverished employee, François Mercier (Gilles Lellouche), on the proviso that Mercier will ‘sell’ it back to him when the war is over. Thus, no money need change hands. Mercier and his wife Blanche (Sara Giraudeau) move into the flat above the showroom, although she is sceptical about the arrangement despite her husband’s obvious delight. Haffmann’s plans come undone, however, and he is unable to make his escape, returning to the shop and insisting the couple hide him in the basement until it’s safe to try again.
Unfortunately, Mercier’s jewellery-making skills do not match his boss’s, so when German Commandant Jünger (Nikolai Kinski) visits the store and orders a specific design for his French girlfriend (Mathilde Bisson), Mercier has to get Haffmann to come up with the goods. But when Haffmann learns that he is making jewellery for the enemy with stolen gems, the men’s relationship deteriorates and suddenly he realises that his basement is no longer a hideout, it’s a prison. There is another task Mercier wants his unwilling ‘guest’ to perform, too, and this one raises the moral stakes for all involved.
Cavayé and Kaminsky’s excellent screenplay brilliantly brings to the surface complicated issues of morality and empathy, plus it’s full of novel twists and turns in the lead up to its surprising conclusion. As events escalate, the level of insecurity increases and it becomes apparent that Mercier has entered into a Faustian pact. Auteuil explains: “It’s a relationship where the power dynamic immediately shifts. It’s what I liked when I first read the script. The deal Mr. Haffmann tries to strike is wild. But they were wild times, and nothing was normal. There was no “normal” behaviour. It was the law of survival. War and danger create a context in which you react however you can to the crazy violence around you.”
First screened at the recent Alliance Française French Film Festival around Australia, Farewell, Mr. Haffmann was one of the standout films programmed; now it’s getting a general release and for good reason. The atmosphere Cavayé creates within the household is one of quiet terror and desperation. The set is largely made up of the flat’s bedroom, basement and showroom, and the camera rarely ventures outside, thus creating a claustrophobic environment. COVID-19 lockdowns worked in Cavayé’s favour in achieving this mood, because the director says that, “When I started adapting the play, I wrote scenes in train stations, neighbours talking, street life… I had to reduce them because of the lockdown, but the truth is, I realized the footage was more compelling when we remained on the characters [in the house].” Filming in Cinemascope also helped; the camera didn’t have to move much to cover the action in the enclosed space.
Farewell, Mr. Haffmann should not to be missed and it’s worth a second viewing if you saw it at the festival, if only to revel in the fine performances delivered by this trio of extraordinarily talented French actors. Seeing Auteuil, Lellouche and Giraudeau together in what the director describes as “an intimate thriller” is a real treat.