Reluctant Hero

This sugary confection by the well-known French novelist (Bonjour Tristesse may tempt the sentimental palate. In the war-torn France of 1942, beautiful Alice is holed up with her lover Jerome in the cozy chateau of his best friend Charles. The two are awaiting a call to rescue a group of emigre Jews; they hope to escape suspicion by hiding in the house of a man whose sympathies are not noticeably anti-Nazi. But Alice and Charles are immediately attracted to one another and from then on the focus is on their separate bedrooms, where each protagonist is bathed in the sweat of desire and renunciation. When they travel to Paris together to arrange sanctuary for their Jewish chargesJerome being too well known as an antifacist to stir from his country confinestheir passion reaches such a height that they are forced to declare it. Further eventseven the intervention of tragic fatedo not redeem this trivial exploitation of a deadly serious war backdrop. (July 15)