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THE WIDOW OF SAINT-PIERRE A man commits a senseless act of murder and is then treated as a victim-saint by the other characters and, by extension, the filmmakers themselves. Another bleeding heart picture from hypocritical Hollywood? It could be, except for the fact that it comes from French director Patrice Leconte, whose past credits include such impressive undertakings as Monsieur Hire, Ridicule and Girl On the Bridge (just out on video). The Widow of Saint-Pierre proves to be the runt of this particular litter, a movie that pretends to answer several weighty questions without ever honestly contemplating all the facts. Set in 1849 in the French territory of Saint-Pierre (an island located off the coast of Newfoundland), the film stars Emir Kusturica (the Underground director, here making his acting debut) as a sailor who drunkenly stabs another man to death simply to determine whether the victim was big or fat. The island authorities sentence him to death, but execution will have to wait until a widow (French slang for guillotine) can be shipped over from France. In the meantime, the military commander (Daniel Auteuil) and his compassionate wife (Juliette Binoche), convinced that goodness resides in the prisoner, treat him like a family member and eventually steer most of the townspeople to their cause. Criminal reform is certainly a salient topic for a motion picture, but The Widow of Saint-Pierre is dishonest in the way it completely whitewashes the man's criminal act, not to mention how it never develops his character to the point where we can accurately gauge his moral fiber -- it's like Dead Man Walking without a sense of balance. Auteuil gives his character some interesting shadings, but the usually radiant Binoche isn't commanding enough to allow us to embrace her troublesome character, a woman so blinded by her own ethical code that she fails to comprehend the fatal ramifications of her actions.
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