The Return of Martin Guerre
1982, NR, 123 min.
Directed by Daniel Vigne, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Gerard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye, Roger Planchon.

Depardieu enacts this legend based on fact about a 16th-century peasant who returns to his wife and family as a much better man than he was when he left seven years earlier. The story’s dramatic tension arises from the question over whether he can be believed or whether he’s an impostor. The film was remade in the U.S. with Richard Gere and Jodie Foster in 1993 as Sommersby.

This article appears in October 20 • 2000.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.