DECLARATION OF WAR IS A WINDOW INTO FRENCH CULTURE AND HEALTH CARE
The French film La guerre est déclaréé is about a young couple who meet, marry, have a child, but agonize as their baby’s malady turns out to be brain cancer. The only war in the film is the battle with cancer and how they amazingly cope, but their son Adam is treated successfully. Everyone must have health insurance in France, so the only clue about the cost is that they must sell their condo and stop using credit cards. Valérie Donzelli, who plays and is the mother Juliette, is the film’s director. Her husband and the father is Roméo Benaim (played by Jérémie Elkaïm). The film, dedicated to the child Gabriel, was shot in the actual hospital where the surgery was performed. MH