Come What May Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Come What May Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 10, 2017

The fate of refugees is much in the news these days, and quite by chance my wife stumbled across Casablanca when it was being broadcast on television a few nights ago, and we were caught up in its story in a new and viscerally emotional way due to the current news cycle. Suddenly the story of refugees attempting to flee danger for the supposedly safer climes of the United States had a whole new relevance. Something at least somewhat similar is at play in Come What May, a film which documents a different kind of Exodus (one which is in fact given that very description in both the film and some supplementary material on this Blu-ray). While it’s not generally known outside of France, a large migration of people traveled huge distances in an attempt to escape the invading Germans as spring gave way to summer in 1940, many of them leaving quaint villages in the north for supposedly safer climes in the south. Come What May has a probably unavoidably vignette laden approach toward this subject, gathering a gaggle of different characters, many of whom are experiencing various levels of trauma not necessarily solely relegated to their need to find a new haven. Chief among these are a German resistance member named Hans (August Diehl) and his son Max (Joshio Marlon), who have already managed to escape from Germany, and just in the knick of time, since the film’s opening scene details the police coming to arrest Hans for his underground activities. Without much explanation, the film segues to France, where Hans and Max have found work while pretending to be Belgian. Even this brief moment of refuge comes to a calamitous conclusion, leading to a new need to escape.

There’s a little bit of a Life Is Beautiful vibe in terms of the father - son relationship in Come What May, though it’s notable that while a prime plot point does in fact involve Hans being (relatively briefly) jailed, there’s no threat of concentration camps. But one of the first scenes, which finds Hans and Max running from what are presumed to be a bunch of Nazi henchmen has the same “from a child’s perspective” angst that the Roberto Beningni opus does, and when those henchmen open fire on a bunch of civilians, killing all of them with the exception of Hans and Max (who have hidden high in a tree), it’s a devastating moment, one that makes the stakes of the situation incredibly clear. And this is even before the pair has made it out of Germany and then gets swept up in another incidence of nefarious Germans wreaking havoc.

While Hans apparently ingratiates himself into the small village of Pas de Calais to find at least a little work, he has to remind Max that speaking German is no longer allowed, and is in fact very dangerous. Despite his attempts to remain undercover, Hans is ultimately suspected of being some kind of spy, leading to an emotionally wrenching separation of father and son. Max at least has the good fortune to be more or less adopted by local teacher Suzanne (Alice Isaaz), a nurturing sort who continues to (both figuratively and literally) shepherd the little boy once the town’s mayor Paul (Olivier Gourmet) announces to the villagers that they must evacuate and attempt to head south toward Dieppe in order to escape the Germans, whose arrival is imminent.

Come What May has a somewhat fractured narrative going forward after already having taken some needless detours (like a town council meaning in Pas de Calais). On one hand, the film details the band of refugees, including Max, struggling to make their way out of danger despite repeated obstacles. Meanwhile, Hans has traumas of his own, but at least he makes it out of jail, ultimately partnering with a Scottish soldier named Percy (Matthew Rhys, kind of oddly the only billed star on the Blu-ray’s cover, when I would think any objective analysis of the film would hand the emotional focus at least to the adorable little Marlon, who does quite well). Of course Hans is most desperate to find Max, but as with Max himself, a series of intervening hurdles intrudes, and an omnipresent sense of foreboding begins to infuse the film, as if disaster is unavoidable and shouldn’t be questioned.

Perhaps surprisingly, then, while there are some emotionally disturbing elements to Come What May, including the deaths of both adults and children, the film moves toward a kind of bittersweet version of happily ever after. That may deprive the film of some of the melancholy that was part and parcel of Life is Beautiful, but Come What May manages to detail a little known part of World War II history in a generally appealing if somewhat meandering way. Performances are quite winning, and despite the wartime setting, the views of the French countryside are often incredibly ravishing.

Come What May Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Come What May is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. I couldn't find any real technical data on the film online, but this looks digitally shot, and it has an often quite sumptuous looking picture, especially as the refugees get out and about into the French countryside. Some of the opening sequences have a slightly desaturated look that almost verges on being black and white, and in fact there are brief bookending segments that offer archival video of the actual migration, something that plays into the plot when a documentary crew stumbles on the heroes of this film. A lot of the opening sequences of the film are slightly yellow looking, while there's a cool blue cast to some of the later sequences once things get more perilous. Detail levels remain quite high throughout the presentation, though occasional deficits occur in scenes like the underground tunnels that Hans finds himself in as he attempts to get away from a German bombing raid.

Come What May Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Come What May has a nice sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 that offers a beautifully sweeping score by the venerable Ennio Morricone. There's consistent, if sometimes subtle, surround activity since so much of the film takes place outdoors where ambient environmental sounds are quite consistently placed around the surround channels. A couple of more "war film" elements intrude, including some machine gun fire and a bombing raid, and the low end is suitably aggressive in these moments. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.

Come What May Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Christian Carion has some of his family history which inspired the basic framework of this story.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:16)


• The Making of Come What May (1080p; 22:21) has some good behind the scenes footage as well as more information about Carion's family's history which inspired the film.


• Behind the Scenes with Ennio Morricone (1080p; 28:54) is a worthwhile homage to the iconic composer. This starts with a kind of funny anecdote by Carion where Carion relates how offended Morricone was to be brought into the project so late in the production process.


• Interview with Christian Carion and Richard Pena (1080p; 38:59) gets into some of the actual history involved as well as the film's treatment of it.

Come What May Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The original French title of this film could be rather ironically translated as "in May, you get to do what you want", which is obviously exactly what doesn't happen to the characters in this film. There are some narrative inconsistencies in the screenplay, but the film is anchored both by some excellent performances, including an adorable Marlon as little Max, as well as the strangely scenic environments these desperate people pass through. Technical merits are strong, the supplemental package quite appealing, and Come What May comes Recommended.