Come What May

In Christian Carion's latest film, Come What May, we see the wrenching drama of the 1940 Wehrmacht invasion in detail as eight million French citizens fled the advance of the blitzkrieg. This historical epic is told through a handful of refugees who flee on foot through the fields of Nord-Pas-de-Calais in hopes of reaching the sea. Paul (Olivier Gourmet), the mayor of one of the besieged towns, tries to lead the exodus along with young schoolteacher Suzanne (Alice Isaaz). Amid this group is Hans (August Diehl), a German expat who had fled Nazi Germany with his son, Max (Joshio Marlon), only to see the war come to him. After being briefly jailed and released during the invasion, Hans loses track of Max and begins a desperate search. Along the way, he meets Percy (Matthew Rhys), a Scottish officer who is the sole survivor of his English squad. Together the lost men form a wary friendship as they head toward the coast, battling the German army in hot pursuit. Cinematographer Pierre Cottereau captures the springtime beauty of the pastoral French locations, even during a terrifying sequence of a Luftwaffe air raid on the column of refugees. With a moving score by Ennio Morricone, Come What May is an elegiac, heartbreaking depiction of the nobility of ordinary people caught up in events beyond their control. (Seattle International Film Festival)