monsignorrenard

Damn.

That is a GOOD MOVIE.

Now, just a few notes. If you're looking for a gushy review, this
ain't it. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't fit. Dom looks abosolutely
smashing, but he always does. That's not what got me with this show.

He is ONE HELL OF AN ACTOR.

Damn.

On to the play by play!

Some background: This is a French town, St. Josse, during Nazi
occupation. Monsignor Renard is the town's (Catholic) priest. There
are many stories, but the one I'm concerned with is Dom's, and they
all end up coming together in the end. Dom's character is Etienne
Rollinger. I'll go through the Dom scenes in order. (Yes, I took
notes. I take my job VERY SERIOUSLY.)

We first see Etienne in bakers duds, as he works for a baker. He's
standing at the bakery door, looking at the commotion outside. Next,
he and some buds are setting of firecrackers in the town square. He's
wearing a Newsies style hat, which he seems pretty attached to, and a
brown leather type jacket. (Stunning...) Next, him and buds are at a
Bastille day party later that night, and he asks Helene to dance. She
turns him down. (Nutty chick...) She then accepts an offer to dance
by a German soldier. Etienne is not amused. He sets off some
firecrackers inside, and Renard drags him outside. In the ensuing
talk, we find out that Etienne has been laid off, but can't go home
and tell his parents. And he swears. (Listen, Merry this
ain't...) "B*stards..."

Next, he and buds are walking along, and they are told to show their
papers. He makes a big deal of looking for them, and is just plain
insolent to them. He's in his hat, a white shirt (sleeves rolled up),
suspenders, and a sweater vest over the shirt. He's quite a cheeky
boy...when the soldier asks him what he's looking at, he replys, "A
turd in uniform."

Again, he tries talking to Helene, but she again shoots him down,
still mooning over her soldier. He's wearing a greyish blue coat and
pants, with the hat. We also find out that he got a job at the
sawmill. Next, him and buds are in the local pub, watching Helene and
soldier getting all lovey dovey. Great quote: "Insinuate. Sounds like
a slithery, wet, one-eyed snake slipping from [something that I
couldn't figure out] flys." I love that man's voice...::happy shiver::
And he still swears..."Sh*t pit..." And he has a great laugh...when
the soldier leaves to get *his* bud out of a brawl, Etienne sees him
go and mimes shooting him. At one point he looks up to watch a plane,
and we see his neck. Gah. Next, he gets laid off from the sawmill.
Poor dude! He just doesn't get any breaks!

Here's where it's gonna get less gushy. The town is having a parade
for their patron saint. We see both Helene and Etienne in the parade,
but Helene sneaks off to rendezvous with her soldier. He's late, and
she gets raped. (Nice, huh?) We don't see who does it, but we do see
that he's wearing a greyish blue jacket.

Not good.

Not good AT ALL.

The next scene we see him in, he's in his room, listening to some
jive in his room and whistling, just generally practicing his "smooth chick-attracting" moves.. He's in front of the mirror, combing
his hair (He's attached to the comb more than his hat! That's saying a lot...) and dancing around. He's got a white shirt on, suspenders,
sunglasses, and a stunning spotted tie. (Hey, it was the forties!!)
He seems to be quite the lad about town.

The next scene is the most gushworthy scene. Again, him and buds are
walking around and they have to show their papers. He's still in his
stud clothes (think funky tie), and he starts to *sing* (to bug the
soldiers). DAMN! "I always wear a smile...I like to dress up...In the
latest style..." Let me tell you, the way Dom sings the "...in the
latest style..." part was enough to reduce me to a gibbering
mass. Smooth as buttah...I was sticking to my seat, I was...(not to get crude, but...) "...in the latest *style*..." MULTIPLE rewindings. If anyone could make a sound bite of this, I would be MUCHLY greatful. He has
an AWESOME voice. ::SWOON:: I just kept that greyish blue jacket out
of my head. (Not good. Not good AT ALL.)

Note: I cannot stress enough the lust inducing quality of that voice of his, singing or otherwise...please, if you have a sound bite of that '...in the latest style..." I would LOVE to know the URL...gahhhhhhhhhhhh...::off to empty drool bucket::

Next, he and buds are in the pub, playing foosball. (Thanks Susie!) Striped vest from before and suspenders, but no hat. He's also smoking.
(Interestingly enough, Dom emphatically doesn't smoke.) They're
baiting the soldiers. They do that a lot...

Next, he's in the street with best bud, in spiffy clothes *plus*
wingtip shoes, teasing soldiers. After bud leaves, he sees Helene,
who yells at him to stay away from her. Uh oh. Not good. Not good AT
ALL.

They are now in the movie theatre, and he has his feet up on the
chair in front of him and has to put them down. He's in the hat, and
another funky tie. He and buds make snide comments at a propaganda
reel. For example, when the reel talks about how Napoleon's ashes
were brought back to France by the Germans, Etienne yells out, "We
don't want ashes, you wanker, give us some coal!" *snicker* He and
bud are then removed by soldiers. And this is where it starts to get
interesting. (He also gives the arm equivilent of the finger to the
soldiers...hehehehe...)

His bud has lent him the keys to the theatre announcement truck and
he's driven the truck to a field and is listening to a record. He's
miming playing a trumpet, and it's incredibly cute. However, the
soldiers catch wind of this and go after him. He grabs the record
player and runs. There's a chase, and he's found and hid by Renard.
However, when the soldiers come into Renard's house, he comes out.
And we find out for sure that Etienne was the one who raped Helene.

Now do you see why it's kinda hard to be really gushy?? He and
Helene's soldier get into a fight, and he's arrested for assaulting a
soldier of the Reich. He's sent to prison, and then taken to trial,
which is just *slightly* biased. However, Helene's soldier tries to
get him a lesser sentence by saying they were in a personal fight and
that Etienne wasn't trying to escape. They call a 30 minute recess,
and the presiding officer gets a call from High Command. He is
ordered sentenced to death the next day, Dec. 31 1940 at 8 am. He had
expected prison, not death.

At this point, Renard has a talk with the officer. They both know
that this is WRONG, but the officer says his hands are tied. Oh, and
Helene's soldier is to be on the firing squad.

Meanwhile, Helene has had an abortion, and it comes out to her
parents that a) she was raped and b) her soldier didn't do it, Etienne did. She, however, wants her baby back. She asks Renard to tell Etienne that
she still hates him.

Renard goes to see Etienne, and they talk about everying, including
the Nazis. Here's one of Etienne's quotes, "I think it's anyone who's
different. You wait." How prophetic. They start talking about the
rape, and Etienne breaks down crying, and wants Renard to tell Helene
that he's so sorry, he doesn't know why he did it, but he was angry:
at her, and at the world, ("This sh*tty world we live in.") Ohhhhh...this scene is SO TRAGIC...*SNIFFLESOB*...Next we
see his hair being shaved off...(Oh, this is *heartbreaking*...he
looks so stunned...)...while his parents and Renard are praying in
the church. He's brought out to a courtyard and tied to a post, but
refuses a blindfold.

Now, I'm not sure, but I think that Helene's soldier purposely aims
wrong. He's shot by the squad, but isn't dead yet. An officer comes
over and shoots him with a pistol to finish him off. Afterwards, we
see Renard sitting and listening to Etienne's records.

The movie ends with Renard. No one is to be out between 3 and 4 pm on
New Years Day, but Renard comes out with a wreath that he places at
the statue of either Mary or a saint. It reads "Etienne Pierre
Rollinger. Victim of the war."

::the Queen, by this point, is sobbing::

And listen. I *don't* cry. I am *so* not a cryer. But I cried while reading The Falcon at the Portal, I cried when Archie died, I cried when Marcus died, I cried at the reactions to Gandalf's fall, and I was bawling here.

There are other plotlines, but for this review, I'm only concerned
with Dom's.

This movie goes to show what an AMAZING actor Dominic Monaghan is. Etienne is *not* a hero. At best he's a smartass, at worst he's a
rapist. But, dammit, I was sobbing when he was shot. The crying in the prison scene killed me.

I can't describe it in words, you have to see it. Go get this movie,
but beware, it isn't a happy movie. Not by a long shot.

Other notes of interest: The German SS dude in the first part NEVER
seems to change his suit. And it's an ugly colour, too.

The actor who plays Bowles is in it! Another link for "six degrees
of..." games.

My one pet peeve: WHY IS IT THAT ALL THE FRENCH PEOPLE HAVE BRITISH ACCENTS????!!!! The Germans spoke English with German accents, why not the French as well? It's like the ancient Romans in pretty much every movie involving ancient Romans. They, apparently, spoke with British accents. Gah.

Well, I'm spent. This is a very draining movie.

Queen Sarah--My respect for Dom as an actor has shot way up, and it
was REALLY high to start with...

Dom, if you ever read this...(Yeah, right...but a girl can dream, can't she?)

Damn. You've got talent, my lad. I may not be able to act my way out of a paper bag myself, but I can recognize immense talent when it's put in front of me, and buddy, you've got immense talent. Don't let anyone tell you that you don't, ok? ::getting out cheerleader pompoms:: GO DOM!!

OK, enough of the mushy pep talk 'believe in yourself' stuff...(Y'know, if any of these actors are ever feeling down on themselves, all they have to do is go to the BEWB...we'll make them realize the extent of their talent and gushability!!)

Note: Just watched the Singing Scene again...*coughtenrewindscough* Whoever was at that LOTR wrap party where he sang has NO IDEA how lucky they are...gah...Wonder if Billy was playing guitar or bass or drums? ::DROOL:: I wonder if Dom plays anything. Guitar? ::DROOL:: Sorry. I'll stop. "...in the latest style..." ::keels over::