In the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious Frenchman who visits the fiancé's grave to lay flowers.
The perhaps too-beautifully manicured black-and-white 'Scope cinematography and Paula Beer's bravura turn as the German girl who got left behind make it worth your while.
Ozon wants to add another layer of perspective, to place Frantz's death in yet another context. Instead, the film's second half makes the first look strategic-a means to an end-serving less to countervail or complement than to cancel it out.
The plot itself is interesting, but what makes it even more so is that it pivots on the idea that human beings have the power to accept facts and interpret truth.
