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Review

International superstar Emmanuelle Béart (8 Women, Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud) delivers another sterling performance as Odile, a recent widow fleeing Paris with her 13-year-old son Philippe and 7-year-old daughter Cathy, just as German bombers are dumping their payloads over the city. Once outside the immediate danger zone, the family meets a survivalist teenager, Yvan, who leads them to an abandoned country home. Scaling the walls and breaking in through the attic, Yvan secretly cuts the phone lines and hides a radio before opening the doors. Now that the clan is "safely" holed up, Philippe begins to bond with the resourceful yet feral Yvan, who in turn develops eyes for Odile, who regards him with mistrust. Yet tensions –- and potential dangers -- begin to really flare when Yvan retrieves a gun from a soldier's body and unexpected visitors come to their makeshift home.

Rather than accentuate the wartime aplomb (barring the film's explosive opening moments), Téchiné opts to focus on the quiet human story within this dramatic situation, injecting many sublime touches: Philippe's percolating homosexuality, Cathy's innocent crush, and hints about Yvan's mysterious past. A masterful adaptation of Gilles Perrault's novel "The Boy with Grey Eyes" with an emotionally powerful denouement, Strayed is another testament to the cinematic gifts of one of France's greatest living filmmakers. (French with English subtitles)

Lawrence Ferber