First Trailer for WWII Drama 'Suite Francais' starring Michelle Williams and Matthias Schoenaerts

Curiously, there hasn't been much heard from Weinstein on the WWII drama, Suite Francais, which looked like a surefire Oscar player some months back. Perhaps Weinstein figures they have enough films to champion this season, most notably The Imitation Game. Or could it be something else? We're not looking at another Serena situation, are we? Probably not, as the film will hit the American Film Market next month before opening in U.K. theaters in January. Here in the States we'll have to settle for this new trailer, which looks mighty impressive.

Directed by Saul Dibb and starring Michelle Williams and Matthias Schoenaerts, the story centers on the torrid affair between a French woman and a German officer as Nazis invade her country. Kristin Scott Thomas plays her meddling mother-in-law, while the rest of the cast features Margot Robbie, Ruth Wilson, Alexandra Maria Lara, Eileen Atkins, Tom Schilling, and Lambert Wilson. Just based on this it looks like a solid wartime romance, impeccably designed much like Dibb's last film, The Duchess, which won an Academy Award for costume design.

Suite Francais opens in the UK on January 23rd 2015.

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Matthias Schoenaerts joining Michelle Williams in 'Suite Francais'

It was inevitable that doors would start to open here for Matthias Shoenaerts. He first came to the attention of Hollywood with the Oscar-nominated film, Bullhead, and this week sees him starring opposite Marion Cotillard in the amazing French feature, Rust and Bone. In my review, I said that Schoeaerts gives a "dominating turn" and seems "poised for greatness". The film is easily, at least in my opinion, the best of the year, and he's a large part of the reason why.

The DailyMail reports that Schoenaerts is in final talks to join Michelle Williams in Suite Francais, the WWII drama from director Saul Dibb(The Duchess). With Kristin Scott Thomas on board as well, the film charts the complicated love affair between a young French woman(Williams) and a German officer(Schoenaerts), with the woman forced to make some hard choices between her heart and her country. An adaptation of Irene Nemirovsky's novel, production is slated to begin next spring.

Already sounding like potential Oscar-bait, the addition of Schoenaerts all but solidifies Suite Francais as a film to watch. Do yourself a favor and get acquainted with him a little by checking out Rust and Bone this weekend.

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Michelle Williams may star in 'Suite Francais' for director Saul Dibb

Although she starred in the excellent Take This Waltz earlier this year, and has Oz the Great and Powerful coming up in 2013, Michelle Williams has been a little under the radar lately. She's too good to be quiet for long, and we're already starting to hear about another promising project on the horizon from a director we haven't seen in awhile.


Variety reports that Williams is in talks to star in Suite Francais, the next film from writer/director Saul Dibb, who last helmed the Keira Knightley period piece, The Duchess. The story is set in WWII Germany follows a young and vivacious French woman who falls in love with a German officer, and the personal hardships it causes as she's forced to choose between that love and her country. The book is one of two written by French author Irène Némirovsky before she was taken away to Auschwitz, dying there at the age of 39. Her writings were rediscovered about ten years ago, and studios have been scrambling to adapt them ever since.

If all goes well, production on Suite Francais will begin next spring in London.

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