Colonel Chabert (Gerard Depardieu) is a decorated soldier who miraculously survives the brutal 1807 Battle of Eylau. So badly injured, it takes the Colonel 10 years to recover and make his way back to Paris. When he returns, he finds himself officially listed as dead. Meanwhile his “widow” (Fanny Ardant) has claimed his fortune and taken a new husband, the politically ambitious Count Ferraud (Andre Dussolier) with whom she has two children. Content with her marriage and social standing, Countess Ferraud refuses to acknowledge the now downtrodden Chabert as her former husband. To regain his name, his fortune, and his wife, Chabert hires the brilliant and ruthless attorney Derville (Fabrice Luchini), while Countess Chabert sets in motion a plan to have him removed from her life once and for all. Adapted from a novel by Honore de Balzac. In French with English sub-titles.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
308437
Language
French
Audience classification
MA
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Foreign language films
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Survival (after airplane accidents, shipwrecks, etc.)
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Inheritance and succession
Feature films → Feature films - France
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Inheritance and succession
History → France - History - Consulate and Empire, 1799-1815
Literature → Balzac, Honore de, 1799-1850
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)