This week marks the Criterion Collection release of Claude Berri’s debut feature, The Two of Us. Released in 1967, the film, co-written by Berri, is an autobiographical work based on Berri’s own experiences as a young Jewish boy in World War II era France. Berri’s screen alter-ego, also named Claude, is a nine year old boy who is sent to live with a family out in the country, away from the bombings and round-up of Jews that have been occuring in the larger cities. The old couple that Claude stays with thinks Claude is a Catholic boy with a different last name.
What gives the film both its comedy and drama is that the fat old man who asks to be called Grandpa by Claude is given to anti-Semitic rants. It is not that the old man has actually known anyone who is Jewish, but that he has his own ideas about French patriotism that the rest of his family does not share. In spite of that, Claude keeps his true identity secret, creating a close bond with the old man. The Two of Us was considered a radical film at the time of its initial release, addressing French anti-Semitism and finding humor during a difficult time for France.
The main reason to see the film now is for the performance of Michel Simon as the old man. The larger than life Simon is an icon in French cinema. Stardom came when this man with a face like an old show was approaching middle age. Among the classic films he has starred in are Boudu Saved from Drowning and L’Atalante. Over thirty years after those films Simon combines the hilarity of the first, with the down-to-earth sensibility of the second film. The best scenes in The Two of Us are of Simon and Alain Cohen, the boy who portrays Claude, playing with each other, or simply sitting together, exchanging thoughts.
According to an interview included in the DVD with the grown-up Cohen, the relationship extended off screen as well. Not only was Simon protective of the young boy who was his co-star, but the friendship lasted until Simon’s death in 1975. The DVD also includes excerpts of interviews with Berri and Simon. An extra bonus is the inclusion of Berri’s Academy Award winning short, Le Poulet (The Chicken). This is the humorous story of a young boy who adopts a chicken as a pet, saving it from becoming Sunday dinner. At the time that Berri made Le Poulet, he was a struggling actor who had a string of small film roles to his credit making his Oscar win a major surprise, which in turn allowed Berri to turn to feature filmmaking.
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