Le hussard sur le toit

The Horseman on the Roof is set in 1932, when a young Piedmontese freedom fighter, Angelo Pardi, has sought refuge in France. The film gives only scant information about the political circumstances, even though Angelo's fate depends precisely on the political situation. Perhaps this part of the film is clearer to a southern European audience. At any rate, Angelo is pursued by some Italian traitors and some Austrians, in whose empire power supposedly lies.

At the same time Angelo has to flee the cholera, which is spreading rapidly. The ravages of the cholera make a greater impression in the film than the freedom struggle of Angelo and his compatriots. Angelo is entrusted by the exiled patriots with a large sum of money, which he is to carry to Italy to finance the revolution, but this important mission is postponed when Angelo meets the young noblewoman Pauline de Théus. When she has helped him, he insists on escorting her back to her husband's château.

There is suppressed romance in the air, but fortunately the film stands by its realism throughout.

The Horseman on the Roof is one of the many historical costume dramas that the French film world spits out at short intervals these years. The Horseman on the Roof is indeed beautiful to look at, but it nonetheless feels a little anaemic. The story is too slight to carry a running time of more than two hours.