Cessez le feu: The awkward silence after the war

Is it worth your time?

If you like movies where people just sit around in rooms talking about how weird it is to be alive, then yeah, watch this. If you need explosions or a tight, thriller-like pace, you are going to be bored to tears. This isn't The Fighting Sap where everything moves at a sprint.

It’s a strange, dusty little film. It feels like the characters are just as tired as the actors playing them. Some scenes feel like they were filmed in a single take because they ran out of film stock or just wanted to get home. I honestly respect that.

The texture of silence

There is a moment near the middle—you’ll know it because the lighting gets all weird and blue—where two soldiers just stare at a wall. It lasts way too long. Most modern directors would have cut it, but keeping it in makes it feel like you’re actually sitting in the room with them. You can almost feel the grit in their uniforms. 🪖

It’s not perfect. Sometimes the dialogue feels like it’s being read off a chalkboard just out of frame. And don't get me started on the background extras who clearly have no idea what to do with their hands. They just sort of hover in the doorways like ghosts.

The vibe check

Watching this made me think about The Old Dark House in a weird, roundabout way. Both movies have that claustrophobic feeling where you feel like the walls are slowly closing in, even if the stakes are totally different. It’s not about monsters here, though; it’s about the memory of the trenches.

• The uniforms look like they’ve been slept in for three weeks straight.
• The sound mixing is a bit of a disaster, but in a way that adds to the charm.
• One of the side characters looks suspiciously like he wants to go to lunch early.

The movie is at its best when it stops trying to explain the war and just shows the aftermath. It’s messy. It’s lopsided. It feels like a rough draft of a better story, but that’s the point. It’s not trying to be a monument. It’s just trying to breathe.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it a movie that feels like someone actually lived through the stuff they’re filming? Maybe a little bit. That’s enough for me today. 🚬