Martin Guerre - Literature and Popular Culture

Literature and Popular Culture

The unusual story has continued to fascinate and inspire many writers.

• Alexandre Dumas, père, included a fictional account of the events in his novel The Two Dianas, as well as in his multi-volume Celebrated Crimes (1841).

• Janet Lewis' historical novel, The Wife of Martin Guerre (1941), is a fictional exploration of Bertrande and her motives for her actions.

• The 1982 film Le Retour de Martin Guerre (The Return of Martin Guerre), directed by Daniel Vigne and starring Gérard Depardieu and Nathalie Baye, was based on the historic accounts. The screenplay added a fictional ending, including an account of Bertrande's motives. Historian Davis (see above) served as consultant for the film.

• Sommersby (1993) was an American Hollywood adaptation of the story, starring Jodie Foster and Richard Gere. It set the events in the United States, during and after the American Civil War.

• The musical The House of Martin Guerre (1993) was based on the case and first produced in Toronto.

• The musical Martin Guerre (1996), by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, premiered in London at the Prince Edward Theatre. It set the story at time of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, during the French government's persecution of the Huguenots. Its ending deviated from the historical account.

• Wiedersehen mit einem Fremden (The Return of a Stranger), a 2010 German TV film, directed by Niki Stein, sets the account in a village in the Black Forest after World War II. The end differs from the historic events.

• Another musical titled Martin Guerre, written by Laura Harrington and Roger Ames, was premiered at the Hartford Stage, 1993, directed by Mark Lamos and starred Judy Kuhn. It won the Connecticut "Best Play" award that year, and had a sold out, extended run into 1994.