63/100
Second viewing, last seen at the Walter Reade in 2000. My interest in the People's Front of Judea (as I call every underground political group seeking to figuratively and/or literally dynamite the status quo) couldn't be much more marginal, but La guerre est finie gradually won me over with its sheer melancholy weariness, as embodied by Yves Montand at his dapper, unflappable best. Resnais continues experimenting with fragmented chronology (quick, isolated flash-forwards, in this case, as if Diego sometimes has precognitive visions) and employs second-person narration (which starts off apparently omniscient but by the end seems to represent the voice of younger radicals, speaking to a respected dinosaur); in the main, though, this film straightforwardly pulls off what Soderbergh attempted with Che, depicting political dissidence as a tiring slog offering few rewards in exchange for total life-ruining dedication. Resnais accomplishes significantly more in half the time, because he's not beholden to an icon or the historical record—Diego's an important figure in the cause but fundamentally anonymous (by design), living unhappily in exile with a woman he can't commit to, his allegiance already permanently spoken for. The film's never exactly exciting, despite a few tense moments involving forged papers being checked, but grows steadily more absorbing and poignant as it goes, especially once Ingrid Thulin shows up as Diego's not-quite-wife. (Nadine's function as Tempting Youth is more irksome, though Geneviève Bujold, then just 24, gives the character some bite.) Kind of incredible that we once lived in a world that saw a foreign-language picture this low-key and cerebral get Oscar-nominated for Best Screenplay—nowadays you need an abduction (It Was Just an Accident) or an Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value). Also one of my worst nightmares gets dramatized here: Diego and Marianne at one point decide to see a movie, get into an argument en route, and then wind up not going to the movie after all. 😱
ANAL-RETENTIVE TITLE CORNER: Both IMDb and Letterboxd prefer English (The War Is Over), but I double-checked and confirmed that it was released in NYC (February 1967) under its original title, without even a parenthetical translation.