Life and Nothing But on France 5: Philippe Noiret searches for those missing in 1914–18

The war is over, but families are still searching for those who never came home: Life and Nothing But, scheduled to air on France 5, is set in 1920. Bertrand Tavernier centers his film on Commander Dellaplane, who is tasked with recording the missing and identifying the dead from the First World War.

Philippe Noiret plays this officer, faced with the files, the bodies and the loved ones waiting for news. He meets Irène, a woman searching for her husband, and Alice, a schoolteacher who has heard nothing from her fiancé. Sabine Azéma and Pascale Vignal portray the two women, who come from different social backgrounds but are united by the same uncertainty.

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Written by Tavernier and Jean Cosmos, the film links these individual searches to the selection of the Unknown Soldier’s remains. Behind the national commemoration, the story thus keeps alive the question of names and personal histories. Released in 1989, it won César Awards for Best Actor for Noiret and Best Music for Oswald d’Andréa.

For more, also check out our picks of the films, series and shows to watch on TV this week, our guide to new releases across all platforms, and today’s picks in What to Watch on Streaming Today.

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