Henri Colpi‘s directorial debut film, ‘Une si longue absence‘ (the English title is ‘The Long Absence’), won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1961 with ‘Viridiana‘ by Luis Bunuel. Such a distinction should have launched a formidable career, especially since Colpi was not an unknown name, already having significant contributions as director of editing in films such as ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour‘ by Alain Resnais. And yet, the promises have not been fulfilled. Although he continued to make contributions to many films, some remarkable, most in TV or film editing, his career as a feature films director counted a total of only five films and none of those that followed managed to approach economy of means and artistic refinement in ‘Une si longue absence‘. Was it because of the lack of synchronisation with some of the principles of the New Wave? Maybe he never received again a screenplay like the one written by Marguerite Duras for this film? We can only regret, because ‘Une si longue absence‘, seen 60 years after its making, is a remarkable film in many ways. The decision of the Cannes jury in 1961 was fully justified. Colpi‘s debut film had its place on the same high step of the podium together with Bunuel‘s masterpiece.
The story takes place in a small bistro in a French village, somewhere on the road between Paris and the south of France and in the surrounding square and streets. We are in 1960 and the traces of the Second World War are still visible on the walls of the old church but especially in the minds and souls of the local people. Some continue to talk about the war and link the news with about the endless conflicts France seemed to be involved it to the events of that time, others continue to live the traumas of the disappearances of loved ones. Among the latter is the owner of the bistro, Therese Langlois (Alida Valli), who never stopped waiting for her missing husband, arrested by the Gestapo and taken prisoner in Germany in the last year of the war. When a vagabond (Georges Wilson) appears on the streets of the village, a man who seems to have forgotten his identity as a result of a trauma that also took place at that time, it seems to Therese, and later she becomes more and more convinced, that he is her missing husband. The woman who never stopped carrying the love for the lost man in her soul will try all sorts of tricks to help the tramp remember something about his past – from playing opera music on the music box in the restaurant to inviting him to dance, from reciting loud the family history to serving his favourite types of cheese. Will these attempts succeed? Is he the man Therese is looking for, or is it more about an embodiment of a love that has no concrete substance?
The story is told with minimalist artistic means, and here, as in the way the nature and streets of the city are filmed (the cinematography belongs to Marcel Weiss) it is felt thatHenri Colpi was not at all detached from the cinematic techniques introduced by the New Wave. On the other hand, the dialogues are literary chiseled (Marguerite Duras‘ contribution is obvious) and the acting continues a style specific to classic French cinema. Both Alida Valli and Georges Wilson create admirable, sensitive and restrained role. The combination of the wide screen and the black and white film is excellently used in several multi-shot scenes, which avoids changing the shooting angles. The sets manage to transport us to the era and Georges Delerue‘s music dramatically punctuates the story, also introducing a beautiful theme song (‘Trois petites notes de musique’). Emotionally and cinematically, ‘Une si longue absence‘ is outstanding. We can only regret that Henri Colpi did not manage to continue his career as a director with films of the same quality as this debut.