See You Up There

Set in the aftermath of World War I, "See You Up There" chronicles the intertwined fates of two soldiers, Albert Maillard and Édouard Péricourt. In the final, senseless days of the war, their villainous Captain Pradelle orders a suicidal assault. During the chaos, Édouard, a gifted young artist, saves Albert from being buried alive but is horrifically disfigured in the process, losing his lower jaw.

Unable to face his wealthy, estranged family and the world, Édouard decides to vanish, convincing Albert to report him as killed in action. Back in a Paris eager to forget the war, the two men struggle to survive. Édouard, now mute and dependent on morphine, channels his trauma and artistic genius into creating a series of elaborate, expressive masks to hide his injuries. Feeling indebted and responsible, Albert cares for his friend. Together, they devise an audacious scam: selling designs for fake war memorials to towns across France, a grand swindle that serves as both revenge against the society that discarded them and a desperate bid for a new life.

Their scheme runs parallel to another, more ghoulish one orchestrated by the corrupt Captain Pradelle, who has married Édouard's sister and is making a fortune from fraudulent military burials. The two cons are destined to collide, forcing a final confrontation between the forgotten soldiers and the war profiteers thriving in the new era.

"See You Up There" is a powerful indictment of the absurdity and brutality of war, and more pointedly, its cynical aftermath. Director Albert Dupontel uses the story of two traumatized veterans to explore how a nation's patriotic fervor quickly gives way to neglect, leaving those who sacrificed the most to fend for themselves. The film posits that in a corrupt world that profits from death and glorifies memory while scorning the living survivors, the ultimate act of rebellion and survival is a theatrical, audacious swindle. It is a darkly humorous, picaresque tale about the "lost generation," contrasting the vibrant, frantic energy of the Jazz Age with the lingering scars of the trenches. Through Édouard's art—his magnificent, expressive masks—the film champions the power of creativity to reclaim identity, communicate unspeakable pain, and create beauty out of horror. Ultimately, it's a story of poetic justice, suggesting that true honor is found not in monuments, but in loyalty and defiance against a hypocritical society.

While the film is largely a straightforward narrative, the ending offers room for interpretation, particularly regarding Édouard's final act. On one level, his leap from the hotel balcony is a tragic suicide, the final capitulation of a man too broken to continue living. He achieves his goal—reuniting with his father and securing Albert's future—and has nothing left to live for.

However, an alternative reading views his final act as one of ultimate liberation and artistic performance. Throughout the film, he lives through artifice and masks. By revealing his face to his father and then leaping, he is not just ending his life but completing his final masterpiece. It is a theatrical, defiant gesture, a final "au revoir" on his own terms. Having reconciled, in a way, with his father, he sheds the weight of his past and his trauma in one dramatic, aestheticized exit. The film's more allegorical ending, which differs from the novel's, supports this view of his death as a transcendent, almost beautiful release rather than a purely desperate act.

"See You Up There" made a significant impact on French cinema upon its release. As a lavish adaptation of a Prix Goncourt-winning novel, it was a high-profile production that successfully blended the scale of a historical epic with a quirky, tragicomic sensibility. The film was widely praised for its ambitious visual style, production design, and cinematography, which captured both the grim reality of the trenches and the vibrant, almost fantastical atmosphere of post-war Paris. Critics compared its visual flair to the works of Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("Amélie," "A Very Long Engagement"), another director known for his stylized, whimsical depiction of French history.

The film resonated with audiences and critics for its powerful exploration of the aftermath of WWI, a pivotal and traumatic event in French collective memory. Released during the centenary of the war, it offered a fresh, cynical, and deeply human perspective, focusing not on the glory of battle but on the forgotten survivors and the societal corruption that followed. Its success at the César Awards, where it won five major awards including Best Director, cemented its status as a major achievement in contemporary French filmmaking. It demonstrated that a large-budget period film could also be an auteur-driven, poignant, and darkly humorous work of art.

Audiences generally responded very positively to "See You Up There," praising it as a captivating, unique, and visually stunning film. Many viewers were enchanted by its blend of genres, describing it as a beautiful and magical story that successfully mixes dark humor, tragedy, and fantasy. The performances were frequently highlighted as brilliant and emotionally powerful, particularly Nahuel Pérez Biscayart's ability to convey so much emotion from behind a mask. The production values, including the costumes, sets, and especially the creative design of the masks, were widely lauded.

Points of criticism were less common but tended to focus on the narrative's complexity and tone. Some viewers found the story became progressively bizarre or that the mix of comedy and dark drama was occasionally uneven. A few critics felt that in adapting a dense 600-page novel, the film had to condense so many plot points that character development sometimes felt rushed, prioritizing visual splendor over emotional depth. Despite these minor criticisms, the overall verdict from audiences was that "See You Up There" was a magnificent, ambitious, and deeply moving piece of cinema.