MAIN CHARACTERS
GEORGES (ROMAIN DURIS)
Having returned seemingly unharmed from the war, the charismatic and courageous officer who has been awarded and decorated and is loved by his men incarnates the traditional hero. However, this man was terribly wounded by this terribly violent experience, the hell of fire, the daily fear, and the ever-present death. On top of his physical and mental suffering, he must also deal with his recent divorce and his mother's blame for not having been able to protect his brother.
A marginalised nomad without ties or projects, he finds a precarious peace of mind in the change of scenery and action. This disabused pacifist with an ironic sense of humour looks at the world from afar. He never speaks of his soldiering past and lets Diofo, brother in arms albeit subordinate, the task of keeping alive the legend of the "Cap'tain Laffo". But the ghost of war constantly hovers within himself, showing up in his nightmares, hallucinations and compulsive rituals.
MARCEL (GREGORY GADEBOIS)
Belonging to the psychiatric category of "psycho-neurotics", as veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder were known in those days, Marcel presents a syndrome of hysteria provoked by the intolerable fear of the battlefield. There were thousands like him, victims of acute disorders without apparent injuries: paralysed, subject to muscle spasms, shakes, blindness, deaf and mute, etc. They resisted every form of treatment, including electroshocks. Veritable enigma for the doctors, his family, Georges, Louise and probably even for himself, Marcel lives in a painful interior universe, which blends shame for himself, despair, war memories, nostalgia for his former profession as a teacher, and expectation of Georges' return. Intensely gentle and sensitive, apathetic and secret, he finds it difficult to bear the anxiety of his mother and sometimes displays abrupt mood swings that can take the shape of suicidal urges. He forms a strange team with his friend Philippe, old school friend and regiment comrade.
LOUISE (MARYVONNE SCHILTZ)
Shaking pillar of a decimated family, Louise holds Marcel at arms’ length, her heart consumed by deaths and ordeals. This woman of duty cultivates self-sacrifice and is now committed to defend the families of soldiers missing in action. Her desire to protect and overwhelming concern makes her clumsy with Marcel and unfair towards Georges. She has mixed feelings of admiration and disappointment for this brilliant and promising son. She is touching in her obstinate courage, as she wants to save everything that can be saved from disaster.
HELENE (CELINE SALLETTE)
Having worked through the war as a nurse in field hospitals, Hélène experienced direct contacts with seriously injured victims. Having been married to a man driven crazy by the war and his ordeal in the trenches, Hélène can testify to the colossal massacre on the bodies and minds of an entire generation. Yet, she remains discreet on her past life, never embracing the status of victim. Quite the contrary, she chooses to grasp the opportunity that her unhappiness gave her: independence, freedom and the desire to be useful.
Perceptive and strong-minded, she refuses to be dragged down in a morbid relationship with Georges, in spite of her desire and love. Hélène is a modern woman who assumes her choices and who claims her right to happiness, which she will sacrifice for no one. But this need does cause her to hide behind a hard or cold nature. She shows her empathy without any self-pity. She can be simultaneously serious and reserved, lively, dreamy, playful, seducing and enamoured.
DIOFO (WABINLÉ NABIÉ)
Miraculously rescued from the gory barbarism of the Somme and Chemin des Dames, where entire battalions of riflemen were exterminated, DIOFO is Georges’ indispensible adventure companion. Sublimating his war trauma in heroic tales allowing him to express his loquaciousness, he has found the cure for his morbid obsessions in his performances. Unfailingly faithful to Georges, he enjoys with the latter a real relationship alternating between devotion and impertinence. Multi-lingual, intelligent, philosopher and warm, DIOFO incarnates joy of living, chasing away his dark thoughts with his infectious laughter. His involvement with the powers of the occult and traditional African myths fascinates the ever-rational and sceptical Georges. His violent death expresses the absolute unfairness of war and its pernicious consequences.
MADELEINE (JULIE-MARIE PARMENTIER)
A slightly lost and shy young woman, Madeleine is confident in her hopes for happiness. She shows the patience of a young seamstress predestined to patch up a broken man. Her chance meeting with Marcel gives her the opportunity to give her kindness and sweetness. Instinctive yet tenacious, she feels that she can heal Marcel and looks forward to a simple future, a family and children.
PHILIPPE (ARNAUD DUPONT)
Working class Philippe is Marcel’s window to the world, and remains attached to him through the shared memories of childhood, school and the trenches. The two men enjoy a subtle relationship based on presence, constant contact and their old complicity, as Philippe perceives every mood, silence and breadth of Marcel. Philippe’s blindness makes him uninhibited towards women and represents the very rage for life and want for revenge. Talkative, energetic and full of verve, he has chosen the bright side of life, although anger and bitterness are never far. He then chases away the dark clouds in his life with a pirouette or the right word.
FABRICE (YVON MARTIN)
DEBEACKER (ARMAND ÉLOI)
ANGÈLE DEBEACKER (MATHILDE COURCOL)
