The Allied forces are nearing their small town, but not swiftly enough for surgeon “Dandieu” (Philippe Noiret), who moves his wife and daughter to a secluded castle in an attempt to keep them safe during the remainder of the war. Upon driving out to check on them sometime later, he finds himself at the chapel, confronted by a disturbing scene. He rushes to the castle and witnesses the extreme cruelty of the Nazis, immediately resolving to get even. But how can this refined older man possibly exact revenge against such a heavily armed group? Initially, he has an old shotgun that had been carefully concealed within the tunnels beneath the castle. Then there are those tunnels themselves; one provides a secret route up into the salon, and ultimately, he's a clever individual who feels he now has very little to lose. Driven by occasional memories of his life with his wife (Romy Schneider) and surprisingly agile, Noiret then presents us with something akin to an amusing rabbit hunt, leading to an ending that is both appropriate and poignant. There isn’t much conversation; the visuals convey enough, and the entire situation creates a powerful depiction of the risks faced by many ordinary people whose lives were made frightening by these aggressors during WWII. It also briefly explores the psychological impact of what he saw and its consequences: his sense of purpose delaying his full understanding of the events so that he could accomplish his goal. Schneider doesn’t appear frequently, but when she does, she brightens up the film, and her character's short appearances underscore just how awful and heartless their occupiers truly were, a quality also well represented by Joachim Hansen’s SS officer. Considerable care has been taken with the film's visual style, and with Noiret performing exceptionally well, it is certainly worth seeing.

Source on TMDB