A 2017 remake of Jules Dassin's 1971 drama (the latter starring Melina Mercouri as a Russian actress who flees to Poland with her young son in the early 1920s), filmmaker Eric Barber's take on the late French novelist Romaine Gary's memoir about his formative years with a passionate and somewhat delusional mother is ambitious and touching. Charlotte Gainsbourg is superb as Nina Kacew, who flees from Stalin with her eight-year-old boy, Roman Kacew (his literary name came later). Fiercely proud and driven by theatrical impulses, Nina insists on raising Roman to become a romantic hero as one might find in silent movies of the era. Though he bucks against his mother's demands (such as wearing ridiculous costumes in public), Roman does ultimately follow her wishes for his destiny and becomes a published writer (he's played brilliantly as an adult by Pierre Niney), a fighter pilot in World War II, an ambassador and more. Along the way, no matter where he is in the world, Roman's thoughts are never far from Nina, fully aware he is in most ways the sum of her vision for him, leaving him anxious and depressed over his value beyond that. Barber presents a stylish sweep of history, especially France's defeatist posture toward Hitler and Roman's immersion in literary hotbeds between spells in military detention, the last of which leads to one chance at redemption by fighting in Africa. The story's many changes in locales and unique experiences remind us that some lives are indeed picaresque adventures, though perhaps, as in Gary's case, leading to an identity crisis. Strongly recommended. (T. Keogh)