A genuinely heartbreaking, romantic film based on a true story; frankly, if it doesn't make you cry, we don't want to know you. The title notwithstanding, star Juliette Binoche doesn't play a widow; she's Madame La, wife of a French military commandant (Daniel Auteuil) stuck in a remote French colony on the Canadian coastal island of St. Pierre in 1850. Life there is uneventful until the night a sailor murders a fisherman in a senseless, drunken brawl. The killer, Neel Auguste (Yugoslav director Emil Kusturica, who only looks like he fronted Canned Heat at the first Woodstock), is immediately remorseful, and Madame La begins performing little acts of kindness on his ...
Released:
2000
Rated:
R
Length:
107 mins