''Come What May'' (french: En mai, fais ce qu'il te plaît; also titled ''Darling Buds of May'' and ''The Evacuation'') is a 2015 French

war drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Christian Carion Christian Carion (born 4 January 1963) is a French film director, dialogue writer and screenwriter, gaining international attention for ''Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas)'', which was nominated for several awards, including the 2005 Academy Awa ...

. It stars

August Diehl August Diehl (; born 4 January 1976) is a German actor, primarily known to international audiences for playing Gestapo major Dieter Hellstrom in Quentin Tarantino's ''Inglourious Basterds'' and Michael "Mike" Krause, Evelyn Salt's husband, in the ...

and

Olivier Gourmet Olivier Gourmet (born 22 July 1963) is a Belgian actor. Gourmet was born in Namur. He won the Best Actor award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for his role in '' Le Fils'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. He also appeared in ''La Promesse'' ...

in lead roles, and was released on 4 November 2015. The film score was composed by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

Plot

On 10 May 1940, the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

invades Belgium and France via the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

. Frightened by the progress of the enemy, the people of the small village of

Lebucquière Lebucquière () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography A farming village situated southeast of Arras, on the D18 road. Population Places of interest * The church of St.Jacques, rebuilt ...

decide, on the recommendations of the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

, to give up everything to go on the road, fleeing to the coast. Among them is Paul, the village mayor. He leads the group, seeking to maintain a minimum of order and republican spirit in this nomadic life. Mado, his wife, plays music, trying to recreate the fragrance of life when friends would come to his coffee shop in the village. Suzanne, a young teacher, acts as a scout to choose the least congested route. She supports a small German boy, Max, 8 years old, whose father Hans, an anti-Nazi dissident, was arrested by the French authorities following the

declaration of war A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state (polity), state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the signing of a document) by an authorized party of a nationa ...

. During the Battle of Arras, residents are released from prison and abandoned in the deserted city. Hans manages to flee the city, accompanied by a Scottish officer, Percy, whose entire unit died under German bullets. These two will travel together. Hans seeking to recover his son who fled the village, and Percy hoping to reach the sea to find a boat back to England.

Cast

as Hans *

as Paul *

Mathilde Seigner Mathilde Seigner (born 17 January 1968) is a French actress. Early life Seigner was born in Paris. She is the granddaughter of actor Louis Seigner (1903–1991). She is the sister of Emmanuelle Seigner and a niece of Françoise Seigner. Ca ...

as Mado *

Alice Isaaz Alice Isaaz (born 26 July 1991) is a French actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' The Gilded Cage'' (2013), '' La Crème de la crème'' (2014) and ''Les Yeux jaunes des crocodiles ''Les Yeux jaunes des crocodiles'' ( en, The Yello ...

as Suzanne * Matthew Rhys as Percy *

Jacques Bonnaffé Jacques Bonnaffé (born 22 June 1958) is a French actor and stage director. He has appeared in more than ninety films since 1980. Debut Jacques Bonnaffé was formed at the Lille Conservatory after his high school years in Douai (North) where he ...

as Roger * Joshio Marlon as Max * Laurent Gerra as Albert

Production

''En mai, fais ce qu'il te plaît'' was produced by Nord Ouest films and

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

Accolades

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Come What May (2015 film) 2015 films 2015 war drama films 2010s French-language films 2010s German-language films English-language French films English-language German films Pathé films Films directed by Christian Carion French war drama films Films set in France Films set in 1940 Western Front of World War II films 2015 drama films 2010s English-language films 2015 multilingual films French multilingual films 2010s French films