A Film Comparison of Romance in French and American Culture

The biggest difference between American and French films in terms of the subject of romance and love is that American films are much more dramatic than their French counterparts. Therefore Sommersby is much more idealistic and dramatic than its source film, The Return of Martin Guerre because it is a classic Hollywood romance film. In Sommersby, the director uses the plot and setting, sound and cinematography elements such as close ups in order to heighten the romantic aspect of the story adapted from The Return of Martin Guerre and make it appeal to American audiences. American audiences appreciate sappy love stories seemingly a lot more than French audiences. The "Hollywood formula" described by Roffman and Purdy is evident in Sommersby and through this we can see how American films are more dramatic than French films. By analyzing the confession scenes in The Return of Martin Guerre and Sommersby we can that romance has a bigger importance in American films because of the Hollywood Formula.

Both The Return of Martin Guerre and Sommersby depict a man who returns to his town and his family after years of being away at war. However the man who returns is not the man who left, but an imposter. Yet the town and his family are mostly fooled about who he really is until the very end when a confession happens in both films. In Martin Guerre, Arnaud, the imposter of Martin Guerre, is taken to court in order to find out the truth of his real identity. Right before he is released due to the lack of evidence against him, the real Martin Guerre shows up. After a feeble attempt to trick the real Martin into making a mistake about his past, Arnaud slips up and shows himself to be an imposter and therefore must confess.

In Sommersby, Horace who poses as Jack Sommersby, is taken to court because of a murder that the real Jack Sommersby committed. His wife, Laurel, who knew all along that he was not the real Sommersby, tries to testify to that effect in order to save his life because she loves him. Yet Horace (who will be called Jack from now on) eventually convinces the Judge that he is the real Jack Sommersby because of his refusal to be Horace again, but in the process he condemns himself to die for murder. Jack refuses to go back to his old life because he hates the person he used to be. In one of the last scenes, Jack confesses who he really is (or was) to Laurel right before he goes to the gallows.

In the scenes leading up to the confession scene in The Return of Martin Guerre, the trial of Arnaud has been going on with arguments going back and forth for and against him. Many times during these scenes it seems like Arnaud has been caught in a corner and about to be exposed but he finds someone else that swears he is Martin Guerre. The story becomes set up for his confession scene because he has gone so far in claiming he is Martin Guerre that he cannot go back-therefore he must confess when Martin returns. In the preceding scenes in Sommersby, Jack convinces everyone in the courtroom that he is really Jack Sommersby because he also has gone too far to return to his old life, and he does not want to return to his old life. The courtroom scene is especially important because the dialogue between when Laurel finally admits to Jack and everyone else that she is his husband sets the stage for the dramatic confession scene.

The settings of the two confession scenes themselves reveal a difference in how romance and love is approached in French and American cultures. "In fact, the plot of the American remake, Sommersby, has been remodeled precisely to better arouse the new audience's interest: the love story, for example, already highlighted in the French movie, is now expanded into 'a sweeping romance' " (Humbert 7) In The Return of Martin Guerre the confession takes place in the courtroom amidst the whole town, Martin's family, and the judges. The confession of Arnaud is more spun towards an explanation of why he decided to pose as Martin Guerre than as a confession of love for Bertrande, Martin's wife. When explaining why he continued to be Martin Guerre, Arnaud addresses Bertrande and says, "Then I saw you. I took you in my arms. Next day, it was too late." Arnaud never actually says that he falls in love with Bertrande, but the French audience understands that Arnaud and Bertrande did fall in love with each other even though neither of them ever say it out loud. While they are in love, this scene is still not as dramatic as Jack's confession in Sommersby.

The confession of Jack Sommersby is only to Laurel and is used specifically as a scene that is the climax of their romance. The confession scene is set in the jail cell where Jack is held before he goes to his execution. When Laurel finally convinces Jack to confess his true identity, Jack slowly explains that he met the real Sommersby in jail during the war and they looked exactly alike-"probably the best luck he[Jack] ever had." Jack says that after the real Sommersby died, he decided to make a new life for himself because he hated who he was. He is willing to die to be Jack Sommersby because he "will never be Horace Townsend again." Until this point in the film, Jack would not admit to the truth of his identity even when Laurel asked him before. Yet Jack finally divulges a huge personal and intimate secret to Laurel which reveals the level of trust and love that they have for each other. The romance in the scene is further heightened because both characters become very emotional as they know that their time together is almost over. In Martin Guerre, Arnaud almost seems to regret usurping Martin Guerre's identity, but in Sommersby, Jack takes his solace in the fact that he is Jack Sommersby-he tells Laurel that "being your husband is the only thing I've done in my life that I'm proud of." Simply through the dialogue and setting of these two scenes, the audience sees the heightened intimacy and romance in the American film compared with the French film showing how American films are often more dramatic and idealistic when it comes to romantic plots.

Close-ups are important in both confession scenes because they reveal the level of importance that the directors place on the romantic aspect of both films. The Return of Martin Guerre only has one true close up in the confession scene. That close-up comes at the end when Arnaud makes his apologies for being an imposter and their pardon. He says, "I ask you all to forgive me. You [the judges], you [the town], and you [Bertrande], who were my wife." When he addresses Bertrande the camera cuts to a close up of her, who is in tears because she knows that it is the end of their relationship and their love. There are no more lines in this scene after Arnaud says these words and the close up of Bertrande is the last shot of that scene before the film immediately cuts to the hanging scene, which heightens the romantic aspect.

Even though the French film does elevate the romantic aspect of the story in the confession scene, the confession scene of Sommersby abounds in close ups in order to highly dramaticize the romantic climax. The director uses shot and reverse shot close ups of the two characters through the bars of the jail cells as Jack begins to confess as to why he became Sommersby. These multiple shots through the cell bars reveal the imminent ending of their romantic relationship. The close ups continue in the scene in order to show the emotion of the two characters and increase the romantic appeal. Laurel is shown many times with tears in her eyes as she realizes that Jack will not admit he is Horace Townsend and therefore dooms himself to die.

Sound is also an important element to consider in both films during the confession scenes in order to see the difference between the American and French films and the different way romance is portrayed. Sommersby uses background music to continue to heighten the sadness and dramatize more effectively the romance of the scene. The background music that the film uses is typical of other American romance films that use passionate background music to heighten and dramatize the romance in their films. The Return of Martin Guerre does not use any background music during the confession scene which works to enhance the importance of Arnaud's confession and his love for Bertrande, but which does not give their romance the dramatic aspect the American film uses.

Sommersby intensifies the romantic aspect of the story because it is the central point of the film. Sommersby goes beyond the love story in The Return of Martin Guerre and makes the story of an imposter into a romance film. An important part of why Sommersby is a lot more romantic than The Return of Martin Guerre is because the importance that the French put on historical facts and accuracy. Americans attach "much less importance to knowledge acquisition and memorization of facts" than the French (Wylie and Briere 24). Sommersby is not very historically accurate because the story is a romance not a historical recount like The Return of Martin Guerre. The dramatic and romantic aspects of Sommersby are representative of American films because it follows the Hollywood Formula. Through this we can see the cultural difference between French and American culture and cinema.