General Calvet is a man who can enjoy his meals even on the battlefield. Scenes from Sharpe's Siege (1996) and Sharpe's Mission (1996). For fun purposes only.
As a matter of fact, there are more scenes of Calvet, however they were played by another actor John Benfield (RIP 2020). In Sharpe's Siege (1996) and Sharpe's Mission (1996), Calvet was portrayed by Olivier Pierre (RIP 2003) and he had done a great job. I wish he had been in more scenes. I remember seeing him with Jeremy Brett in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -- The Final Problem" (1985) in a petty role, but a remarkable one. It would have been great seeing him alongside with Sharpe against Ducos in Sharpe's Revenge (1997). As a result, I preferred Mr. Pierre's scenes for this video. Hope you enjoy it... By the way, I really enjoy the "Sharpe community". Watching other Sharpe videos on RU-vid, there are always many nice and informative comments. Therefore, I thank the people for sharing their knowledge and best wishes.
"I eat soup with every meal, because I remember when I had no soup." Great line. Reframes his apparent gluttony into a humanizing and deep character trait with only one line.
@@peterclarke7240 Soup is a fantastic way to stretch your food and your budget. My grandfather's family often ate potato soup during the Depression since the ingredients were cheap (he hates it with a passion, now, though, for obvious reasons, although he does like a good clam chowder.)
This guy and his Gaston had been to Moscow and back and lived to tell the tale. If you have ever been through something like that, you will keep food nearby all the time. My grandparents have been through some nasty time in the war and if there was ONE things they cared about it was that the larders was stocked. hunger is a trauma.
It does a lot to build his character and contextualize the French. After the fall of the monarchy and to the ascension of Napoleon, military rank became determined not by noble birth but by merit. Calvet was clearly someone of low birth who suffered through poverty and starvation, and earned his rank as general through genuine skill and accomplishments, and yet he is still that same person who remembers going hungry and never forgets it. In a way, he is an embodiment of the new society that the French Revolution brought into existence.
Calvet is actually the best French commander in the entire series. He cares about the lives of his men, he walks with his troops instead of horse riding, He has a sense of honor and is actually a decent tactician he is just forced to listen to and obey incompetent ones.
Like how he marches on Sharpe’s 50 men, slowly, out in the open, while the sharpshooters were mowing his men down left and right?! Or when he attacked Ducos’ castle under cover of night, but refused to let his men wear darker clothing, again, pressing an attack on an enemy fortress using a line formation?!
@Sucshi I’d agree if Sharpe hadn’t yelled in his ear the right way to do it! Sharpe and the boys rarely take part in line battles because they know how retarded it is to have your men in open field with no cover wearing bright colors! He and the boys picked when to engage the enemy, their green uniforms made for camouflage, they often fired at enemies downhill from their positions, used cover, and crouched beneath obstructions when reloading! If Calvet were good at his job, he’d learn from his enemy and adopt his tactics, his bravery doesn’t dismiss him of the accusation of incompetence!
@@IsaiahRichards692 Well the thing is, back in those days that was the actual tactics, and a good one at the time at that. Back in those days, soldiers had to literally march miles on the battlefield if necessary and to save their energy they were forced to walk slowly until they got in a close range with the enemies. And uniforms back then were the only way that they could tell the difference between friendlies and enemies, not to mention that uniforms at the time were really hard to produce and transport.
@@justin764 Yes but popular doesn’t equal efficient, healthy, cost-effective, or sanitary! This problem can be seen today with large groups of people using outdated exercises and diets and causing a diabetes epidemic, or there was that time every army in the world realized army camo was a good idea, but now, every army on the planet looks identical. Dumbasses go with the flow and down with everybody else on the sinking ship of society, intellectuals that are ahead of their time think for themselves!
@@IsaiahRichards692 No, like, literally back then it was the only way. Sure, there were cavalry units riding around with horses. But their horses are really expensive to maintain. Back then there was literally no way to actually make it to the firing line, unlike today's military with vehicles. Back then soldiers carried their rifles and thick coats of a uniform and 30 kgs/60 lbs worth of haversack with stuff including their own raw foods and water. They had to manage to make it to the enemies without getting exhausted first.
"I eat soup with every meal because i remember when i had no soup" It hits different once you realize calvet is a veteran of the french campaign against russia.
Believe it or not, that sentiment was shared by a number of veterans who survived that Russian Campaign, for several generations after the end of the Napoleonic wars, it was not uncommon for a large number of French families to eat broth or soup, with sausages and bread for breakfast, in some families, the custom didn't fully die off until the decades following the end of the Second World War.
@@lordbarristertimsh8050 the comment of the time to eat soup was more of a playword between social classes , as in lowly farmers and non aristocrats used and still use to eat their main meal , soup , for breakfast because they skip lunch due to usually working the fields , so when the other general told to calvet '' i dont eat soup for breakfast'' he meant it as ''im no lowly class man''
In french, he crudely says "In Russia, men like him: we ate them." It wouldn't translate to "ate them for breakfast", but more something along the line "They ended up being the meal". So yeah, I agree.
Because the French invasion of Russia and its retreat from Russia was a nightmare. According to what I read in the history books so that phase is serious and true. I took it that he survived that nightmare while Duco wouldn’t last a day if he were there.
My dad said that literally every time we sat down for one of my mams soups. Minestrone, onion, leak and potato, carrot and coriander. We ate soup every Thursday and the man said it without fail everytime. Drove me mam mad. "Shurrup Barney, we had minestrone last week you daft twat". Ah childhood memories.
I love how Calvert and Gaston are always seen eating The hunger they experienced in Russia must have been so horrific that they can't stand the feeling of even being peckish
Calvet is hardly a boor. He appears so because all of these clips have him eating like a peasant. Off the dinner table he is a capable, cunning general- see Sharpe's Revenge.
@@tamlandipper29 I see him as somebody who has definitely seen horrific struggles, the face is that of PTSD. He has seen what poor stratergy can lead to and will not subjugate his men to such a fate.
@@tamlandipper29 he is the definition of boorish. He ate sloppily and, burped without covering his mouth while with others around and was generally off-putting.
A reference to a famous Napoleon response to the question of whether, in battle, he preferred luck or greatness, and he answered, luck. Thus our modern saying: It is better to be lucky than good.
@@briancooper4959 if you're lucky, you don't need to be good. Then again, if you're unlucky you had _better_ be good. Or maybe it won't help😅 Hope to be lucky, but always try to be good.
@@starliner2498 Oh really? No kidding! What a fascinating historical example! Do tell us more about this Cortana and Master Chief! What lives must they have lived?
The moment where General Calvet tossed the food to the deserters was just brilliant. In a single instant, the General revealed who still maintained dignity as men, and who had degenerated into feral beasts. Thus, he showed who was salvagable versus who was expendable.
You can see that general has equal kind of relation with his cook. Even tough the cook is standing to show his respect to him, Calvet doesn't get mad when Gaston dips his bread on general's own soup bowl.
@@ClickBeetleTV He looks either to be Sgt Major, or more likely his personal batman (as in the officers personal servant who stays with him at all times, not the superhero lmao).
I love the end of the first scene, where Major Ducos strides off thinking he's been all decisive and bad ass, and General Calvet and Gaston just watch him go, before settling into a pleasant reminiscence together about the days when they'd just have eaten his gizzards with their gravy.
Intelligence officers like Ducos were useless in Russia, since pretty much the whole of Russia hated Napoleon and very few officers could be turned against Tsar Alexander. Calvet and other generals also had faulty intelligence that led to them pointlessly attacking Moscow and starting the great retreat and the deaths of thousands.
There's no hint at all. Calvet openly admits to eating one of his corporals in both the series and the books. 'Boiled buttock of corporal, well peppered.' As a general, he had the privilege of cooking what he was forced to eat. The ordinary soldiers had no such luxury, hacking chunks off frozen horses and men with their bayonets and gnawing on them raw.
@@crippledkitty863 They were beyond horrendous. Historians are considering the French Retreat from Moscow as history’s worst periods in military history. The conditions were unthinkable and the men were subjugated to such inhospitable conditions that the term “frozen hell” would still be an understatement. The fact that men resort to devouring horses alive like zombies because the cold was so severe that exposed blood froze in minutes . Dead horses were impossible to eat since their flesh froze rock solid within hours.
@@dastemplar9681 I also heard that it was an unordinary harsh winter, kind of a micro ice-age to put it bluntly. Some of those extraordinary weather conditions that happen very rarely. Talk about bad luck Or in the words of a famous singer: "Everyone is bound to fail, it must be right". I guess even the universe itself didn't want Napoleon to win
I have a book called an innocent soldier that follows a couple of soldiers from the Kingdom of Wurttemberg that were part of Napoleon's Grand Army. I felt bad for the few who made it back that were forced to stay in the army after that nightmare.
As a person who rose from nothing, I empathize greatly with General Calvet. My business break room has poptarts coming out of the rafters, as I remember a time when having poptarts was a luxury. I have a dozen examples of this in my life. Yet Calvet is quite an intelligent and sensible man. I'm glad he was in more than one Sharpe film.
@@n-doghansenmand5655 In my country we consider it as a dessert. But if you're American who's used to eating bread you'd probably eat it as regular food. I dunno.
@@n-doghansenmand5655 it's candy and a meal. Like sugary cereal it's not healthy but it's technically food children will happily eat quickly for parents who don't have and/or can't/won't make the time to prepare and make children eat healthier options.
Calvet was quite impressionable to me as a child. I felt he humanised the series a bit. Made an adversary likeable. I think that was a nice nod to the human cost of war. I would of hated seeing Calvet killed. Him and his chef were a pleasure in every scene.
I’m pretty sure he started as a cartoon villain in Spain - a fat enemy commander that regularly gorged himself on mountains of food and executing Colonel Cresson for a failure he couldn’t have prevented! But then they suddenly made him a humanized character, pulling this off-screen Russian Campaign arc out of their asses, and saying he only ate well because he knew hunger! Admit it, this humanized version of Calvet came right the hell out of nowhere!
"I eat soup with every meal, because I remember when I had no soup." This line does a lot to build his character and contextualize the French. After the fall of the monarchy and to the ascension of Napoleon, military rank became determined not by noble birth but by merit. Calvet was clearly someone of low birth who suffered through poverty and starvation, and earned his rank as general through genuine skill and accomplishments, and yet he is still that same person who remembers going hungry and never forgets it. In a way, he is an embodiment of the new society that the French Revolution brought into existence.
He was in Russia when the Army froze and starved to death. That’s why he constantly eats. Idk about his backstory but the context clues and dialogue you’re given point to Russia being the reason for his gluttony.
@@FormerGovernmentHuman You're both right; Calvet isn't of noble birth (as shown by his contempt of the aristocracy), and what he actually says at 0:38 is "I eat soup alongside all of my meals, in the morning, at noon, at night, as to remember the time in my life during which I did not eat any meals", which, the way it's worded, seem to insinuate that he was indeed brought up in poverty, and could not eat much (only soup - and probably not the nice kind you'd get in a soup restaurant, but simply whatever could be gathered put into a pot with water as to avoid wasting any precious nutrients). The French dialogue seem to imply that he's eating soup with all of his meal (even breakfast - which is unusual, and kind of rough on the palate!) to remind himself of his humble origin. What he went throught in Russia was much worse (straight out starvation, resorting to cannibalism; eating his corporal), but shorter, and may be the cause of his gluttony (at least, to this level!). I didn't read the novels, so maybe someone can correct me if more of his backstory is given there.
That first clip is great for establishing who these two characters and their differences. Major Ducos, dress smart and stands upright. Suggesting he’s educated, and from moderate wealth. Perhaps he’s apart of the lower elite who avoided the great terror. He most certainly thinks himself to be more intelligent than those around him. Especially the general. General Calvert on the other hand is the prime example of a Napoleonic officer. A man who was promoted based on Merit and most likely came from abject poverty. Hence his appreciation for his post and the fact he considers soup a luxury. Something that Ducos clearly disagrees with. Note: The general calls the Compte an aristocrat in the second clip. So I believe he would have been poor.
@@ironandpine433 he is responding to Ducos' remark about only having soup with dinner; as someone who grew up poor Calvet now wants to have soup all the time, since unlike Ducos , soup was a luxury for him growing up, which he remembers quite vividly Ducos is being a snob. Soup with dinner and the expectation of such marks him as upper middle class.
Its most likely the Russian campaign. The french were ill prepared for war in such temperatures and died by the thousand. Those that didnt sucomb to the cold died of starvation. Cannibalism was rife as aluded to when Calvet jokes with Gaston about eating men like Duco for breakfast in Russia. Later in the series when Sharpe defends a small French fortified house, Calvet asks gaston whether the assault was as bad as Moscow, to which gaston replies Yes my General. Then it was truly bad was Calvet's reply and helps his friend off the battlefield.
@@ezekielellis7471 because I think these were explicit orders from Napoleon himself meaning either succeed or die for your failures of following orders
Gaston is a real hard arse piece of work... and you can so tell Calvet is very in the air whenever he is joking around with people.. the moment Gaston looks serious. Calvet gets serious.. I think Gaston is Calvets moral compass. Calvet wont put his men under someone unless Gaston thinks he can do the job.
Gaston and General Calvert are the guys you want to both serve with during the war and party with after the war. Appreciative for what they have, great sense of humor and respectful of the regular working man
As a writer, I adore the first scene with Calvet. It gives so much context and characterization to the audience in such a short amount of time. His constant eating lets the audience empathize with him as a poor man who rose to the top, while at the same subtlety telling us that Calvet must be a fierce opponent having survived the horrors of the Russia campaign.
The actual words that he's saying in french have a much stronger meaning, in english hes calling duco a wimp and saying he's thrashed men like him in russia. What hes actually saying is "remember in Russia? we saw a man like that, we ate them". Not because they were wimps, but because the French were out of food and starving. Perfectly synchs with the prior line of "I eat this food for supper because I remember what its like to not have supper"
At the same time that may have not been a budget thing but practical. Lots of actors have said they dislike any scene with food in it because they have to eat it over and over and over take after take. The food gets cold and nasty, they get full but have to keep eating as they do take after take. So having him sip some water while wearing that heavy military uniform in the outdoor heat was probably a smart move.
@@georgevanhoose6333 when in jail in Umatilla county , Oregon we had bologna soup that was very similar to this soup. A huge vat of water boiled with a few chunks of bologna and a couple scraps of cabbage in it. Bologna soup.
General Calvet and Sargent Gaston are the French versions of Sharpe and his men. Cresson fucked up when the gun powder storage fort blew up. You can see Colonel Cresson's facial expression. Calvet tried to execute Cresson by poisonous mushroom but he was lucky and ate a good one, so Gaston shot him in the back. Calvert was pissed off but he remained composed.
No the mushrooms were never poisonous. He ate one himself. Remember that Cresson walked into that tent still thinking the mushrooms were deadly until Calvet ate one and offered him one as a false gesture of forgiveness
Calvet intentionally gives Cresson a non-poison mushroom to give him the impression he didn't want to kill him. This calming and false validation effect distracts Cresson from seeing Gaston pulling the gun behind him. General Calvet is an OG.
Historical Fact: The two medals displayed on General Calvets uniform are the Légion d'Honneur (Legion of Honor) (Red Ribbon) one of the highest commendations anyone civilian or military could achieve, and is still awarded today. The second is the Ordre de la Couronne de Fer (Order of the Iron Crown) (Yellow & Green Ribbon) created by Napoleon after his Italian campaign.
When the general is talking about 'I remember when I had no soup', what he says (in French) is: 'Moi, je prends de la soupe avec tous mes repas, matin midi et soir, pour ne pas oublier l'epoque ou je ne mangeais pas de repas' What is really says is (my French isn't perfect): 'I eat soup with every meal, morning, midday and evening, so as to not forget the time when I used to eat no meal.' Equally touching as the shortened translation imo.
As an active member of the military and an NCO, I must say that I love the bounds that the general and he's sergeant have made, and it's more than accurate once you've fought along with someone for as much as they have.
Despite this being old even with the new napoleon movie. This still never gets old. The quote with soup practically symbolizes the situation in France. During the last king their was an unprecedented gap and poverty between rich and poor and when the revolution occurred despite its hopeful prospect it got worse under the reign of terror. This is the environment that Napoleon who was an outsider and many of his generals grew up in
The irony of the Sharpe series is that it was Napoleon's army that was meritocratic - he would have been a lot more likely to rise through the ranks in the French army than the British.
This guy has a pretty decent outlook on life and shows a hidden wisdom that very likely EARNED him the rank of General. Probably a man Sharpe would love to serve under if they were on the same side.
He is wearing the Legion d'Hounneur, earned in Italy during Napoleon's campaign there. Coupled with the Russian campaign, I'd say he earned those stripes. With a couple of exceptions, Napoleon generally promoted capable men to the higher ranks, since the Revolution pruned the elite ranks of aristocrats. He was dreadfully unfortunate that his Marshals often squabbled with each other, with him and even their own staff-and that his enemies also had very capable leaders of their own
@@SantomPh Not only the Legion of Honour but the Order of the Iron Crown, a duo which Napoleon gave to only few people. He’s clearly earned his stripes.
Only 1 out of every 12 men of the Grande Armee that crossed the river Neman into Russia ever came back. Surviving the pestilence and exposure, starvation, exhaustion and Cossack skirmishes was bad enough. But then you had Smolensk and Borodino and countless other pitched battles all the way back. No wonder Calvet DGAF.
yes. a giant terrific battle without a clear victory, and with heavy casualties. Russians traded area for time, pulling back and allowing the French to overstretch while racing towards Moscow.@@justinokraski3796
The quote goes harder in french it's not I eat soup every meal because i remember when I had no soup but rather I eat soup with every meal because I remember when i had no meals.
Little nod to history. When Calvert says, “In Russia, we are men like him for breakfast”. Cannibalism was what the French army resorted to in Napoleon’s campaign. A double insult to Ducot.
Gaston's role throughout the scenes are grossly overlooked. Well played by the actor and his subtle movements throughout the scenes. You'd think he was just the happy go lucky faithful servant enjoying himself, but push comes to shove he is still a soldier doing the general's bidding at the end of this.
I always loved how everyone, especially Ducos told Calvet how to think about Sharpe, but he always gave him his due credit. Even when he outsmarted him. Id rather be "lucky" than "good" any day.
My interpretation of the last scene is that the mushrooms offered were never poisonous (although Calvert would initially imply that it is) and Gaston would shoot Cresson anyway. What Calvert offered Cresson was the chance to take responsibility of the failure by committing hara-kiri with a seemingly poisonous mushroom (with Gaston performing the coup de grace) or die like a dog. Cresson refused to take responsibility, and so died like a dog.
@@awesomebearaudiobooks He did, but only after Calvert ate one first to show that they weren't poisonous. If you rewatch the final scene, there's a pause where the mushrooms are placed in front of Cresson and Calvert waits for him to grab one. Seeing that Cresson clearly avoided them with his gaze, Calvert grabbed one himself.
One of the things I liked about Sharpe was how it vilified and humanized both sides of the war. The English weren't just bright eyed heroes and the French weren't evil Machiavellian bad guys and sometimes the people caught in between weren't always nice or just. Calvet's genuine love and concern for his men is apparent as much as Sharpe's for his.
I know others have already mentioned it, but Calvet’s passing statement of always eating soup because he remembers having nothing could imply multiple things. Before the French Revolution and later Napoleon’s rise, positions were given based on family bloodlines, not skill. Its very likely that Calvet experienced starvation and poverty in his childhood, both during the rule of the French Monarchy, and the famines caused by the turmoil and tyranny of the French Revolution. Another thing he could be referencing was the Russian campaign, which I personally consider more likely. Even on the first day of the campaign, it was going poorly, as Napoleon’s usual tactic of living off the land just wouldn’t work in Russia, cause scorched earth tactics. Things got infinitely worse after the retreat from Moscow, when Napoleon abandoned his army and left for Paris. Throughout the retreat, men froze to death on the march, with Russian cavalry constantly harassing the retreating French soldiers. Napoleon brought over 600,000 men into Russia, a rough estimate of 100,000 escaped. Going through that ordeal, constantly battling frostbite and starvation, with Russian cavalry always watching from the tree line, yet fortunately escaping with his life would’ve definitely affected Calvet mentally, especially the hunger, which constantly gnaws at a person, and would be a cold reminder of what he experienced in the dreaded Russian Winter. With this sort of trauma, it’s no wonder he never wishes to eat light, as he has a new appreciation for food.
He was actually a Turkish actor, Ercüment Balakoglu, played generally petty roles in his career. Not primary, but good character roles. RIP since 2018.