On a dark night, in the mysterious fog, in a small village on an island off the coast of France, two very drunk men knifed a fat man, just to see if he's fat or just big. The men are caught and questioned. One is killed in an accident, while being sent to jail. The other, sentenced to hang, is imprisoned. But, when it poses a problem to hang him, the law begins to reconsider. You see, they don't have a guillotine and who knows when one will get there. In the meantime, he is released, pending execution, of course. And, suddenly he becomes a model citizen, saving the church from near demolition when being moved from one place to another, and saving the life of someone leaning up to it. This plays out like one of those quaint little British films where their lives were pretty quiet until something fanciful and unique happens to spruce up their lives. The prisoner is of course put back in jail from time to time, but it's the military captain's wife, played by Juliette Binoche, who takes to him and is very sympathetic to his situation. The moments they share, when she visits him in jail, are very personally felt. But, her husband, the captain, is put in a very awkward position. As other reviewers have said, this movie deals with a person's salvation, his worth to himself and to others. A movie you just have to see to believe. I didn't think I was going to like it, as I had put off watching it. But the combination of the town's officials talking amongst themselves about their plight and the heartfelt connection between Juliette and the prisoner balance each other very well and make the movie a very moving and humorous experience, one you'll not forget anytime soon. But then who is the widow of Saint-Pierre, you ask???

First of all let me say when I hear "Patrice Leconte" I think about "Ridicule", which to me was one of the best films I've ever seen, so I am biased for the director. That being said, I hardly recognized his work here. The characters were cold, their emotions either over the top (Pauline/Madame La), subdued to extremes (Jean, the captain) or simply idealized (Ariel Neel Auguste). What I liked most about this film is the way that "traditional societies" are depicted. Besides the beautiful lighting (the scenes at the stables, with the snow and the sea) and correct music (when the captain listens to violin music, there's a dissonant background melody, hinting at what will come next subtly) I felt common sense was missing from the story from the start, with such unusual circumstances of a captain taking for a victim just because... he loved his wife so much? But how could he not realize he was undermining his position in a traditional society?I agree with the IMDb reviewer "rps-2" that it's a "morality tale" and a melodrama (all things surrounding the famous guillotine are tart and repetitive). I think that makes its "point" ("yet another plea against death penalty") fade in the fog of the plot. The Governor's last scene is another case in point.Overall... I liked having watched it. But I'd never buy it!PS: Try to watch it on a big wide screen, the landscapes are probably lost on a 21' TV screen like the one I saw it.

The actions of two men on a drunken spree turns out to be fatal for the man who is being harassed because he dies as a consequence of a fight with his two tormentors. Both men are apprehended and condemned to die as punishment for their actions. The way to die is beheading by guillotine, or "the widow" in the vernacular.Thus begins this story that director Patrice Leconte directed, based on the screen play by Claude Faraldo. The story is set in the remote island of Saint Pierre, off the coast of Newfoundland. This is a hostile environment settled by the French. Saint Pierre boasts a lot of widows who have survived the rigors of the climate and the hard lives their husbands led.Into this milieu we find a military captain and his wife. Both are Parisians and appear to be compassionate, at heart. When Neel, the surviving drunk is brought to be kept in a cell within the military quarters of the island, the wife, Madame La, takes an interest in the man. With her husband's consent, she asks for his help in tending a green house in the premises and other errands.Neel and Madame La are at simple view, just opposites. The kindness Neel sees in her, transforms him. Madame La even goes to help him learn to read. All these actions don't sit well with the rest of the inhabitants and the people in the government who demand a guillotine is sent over and have him execute the prisoner.The film works because the brilliant performance of Juliette Binoche, who as Madame La, makes her mark in the picture. Her compassion for Neel is genuine; in her heart she believes this man, a product of the environment in which he was born, shows qualities that no one has seen in him.Emir Kusturica, a noted film director himself, is also one of the assets of the movie. Mr. Kusturica is a large man with unkempt looks, who is totally believable as Neel. His interaction with Madame La turns from gratitude into a noble love that is not meant to be.The other principal is Daniel Auteuil who is perfect as the captain, the husband of Madame La, who is outraged by what he perceives to be the wrong punishment for the accused Neel. In spite of the menacing presence of Neel next to his wife, he trusts her as he knows her kind heart belongs to him only."La veuve de Saint Pierre" is a great movie that will satisfy viewers in search of a different story. Patrice Leconte has directed with panache as he takes us to see the beauty of Saint Pierre, something that is so bleak, yet it's a place that has a magnetic attraction as we watch the film unfold.

It seems to me that this movie was made as an attack on the death penalty. While I have no problem with the use of the death penalty, I strongly agree with the major contention of the film. That is, once a person is sentenced, by the time they are put to death a lot of time has passed and they may not be the same person--and may no longer deserve to die. In the case of the film, the delay was BRIEF compared to our modern penal system, as the delay looked to be about two years. During this interim time, the convicted man did so much to help those around him that there was little will, except among some idiots in the local government, to execute him. The film is very interesting and gives us insight into life on the isolated island of St. Pierre (a French possession near New Foundland) and because the story, it seems, is based on a true story! I liked the film because it dared to be different, had something to say and featured excellent acting and dialog--and this combination definitely doesn't happen very often.