Chapuis (2023)

Chapuis
Official release poster
Directed by	Giovanni Tanner
Written by	Aaron Cristol
Produced by	Ernest Barnier
Starring	Cyrus Best Andrew Green Francis Rouse Amias Parker Israel McCaskey Karoline Redler
Production companies
Release dates	August 2, 2023 (2023-08-02)
Running time	142 minutes
Country	Zamastan
Language	English
Budget	ℤ135 million
Box office	ℤ822 million

Chapuis is a 2023 Zamastanian war film depicting the Battle of the Strait of Cranes during the World War, which was the first major naval engagement fought between allied forces and Drambenburg. The film was directed by Giovanni Tanner and written by Aaron Cristol. The film stars an ensemble cast including Cyrus Best, Andrew Green, Francis Rouse, Amias Parker, Israel McCaskey, and Karoline Redler. The film was a passion project of Tanner's, having also directed the critically acclaimed 2010 war film Inferno. Much of the cast joined in 2021, and filming began in Ossinia. Some filming also took place in Anchorhead and Titania. With a production budget of ℤ130 million, it is to date one of the most expensive independent films of all time.

Chapuis was widely acclaimed by critics, who praised the action, cinematography, score, performances, and direction. It was a major success at the box office, grossing ℤ822 million internationally. The film recieved 10 nominations, tied for the most with Contagious, at the 97th Tofino Film Festival. Chapuis won four (also tied with Soccorso Busalacchi's war-epic Monearde), and won Best Picture, Best Director (Tanner), Best Supporting Actor (Green), and Best Sound Editing.

Plot

Act One

The World War has broken out in Euronia, and Drambenburgian forces have steamrolled through western Avergnon. Zamastanian forces join the war and open up a front in Auraine, pushing back the Drambenburgians to the Lutharian Alps. Despite their early battlefield losses, the Kreigsmarine remains a formidable opponents and begins attacking ships in the Cantalle Ocean and its aircraft carriers operating in Titania Bay and the Ossinia Sea stage themselves as bases for aerial bombings on Zamastanian cities like Anchorhead, Tregueux, and Alutia. The firebombing of Titania draw President Marvin Gaviria to order a boost in production of Upham-class aircraft carriers. Cunningham Naval Base churns out a new aircraft carrier every month, and the first off the line are the ZMS Calgary, ZMS Keenen, and ZMS Westerly. These carriers form the head of the Cantalle Fleet, and they are dispatched to Périnnois, Ossinia, to join the Quetanan navy's aircraft carrier QNAV Belsavian and protect the vital allied shipping lanes which navigate from Adula and to the southern coast of Zamastan.

In the town of Chapuis, directly north of Périnnois, two naval pilots Lieutenant Jehu Wiley and Lieutenant Alden Mackey enjoy an evening of dancing at a pub with locals and servicemen alike. Jehu orders a drink from the bartender, a Zamastanian woman named Ellen Barnet, who is working in Chapuis while her husband, a senior intelligence officer in the navy, assists in said efforts from military command in Périnnois. Jehu and Ellen strike up conversation, with Jehu smitten by her and later in the quarters of their homeship, ZMS Keenen, Jehu rambles drunkenly to Alden about his intentions to win her over despite her husband. Hungover and still incoherrent the next morning, Jehu and Alden are reprimanded for disorderly conduct by the ship's flight commander, Jordan Tomas, and the two are grounded from flight exercises much to their frustrations.

After performing all required crew tasks for the day, Jehu sneaks off ship at night and makes his way to the pub in Chapuis to meet Ellen. When he walks inside, however, he encounters both Ellen and her husband, intelligence officer Matt Barnet. Jehu, attempting to continue conversation with Ellen, acts friendly with Lt. Barnet, but notices in their interactions that Ellen is acting tense around her husband. When they are seperated for a time being, Ellen unintentionally reveals to Jehu that her husband has been physically abusive towards her. As Matt walks out of the pub to head home, Jehu storms out after him in rage, and strikes him in the back of the head, knocking him down and beginning to beat him up. Ellen runs outside pleading with Jehu to stop, which he eventually does, but not before Lt. Barnet is bloodied and struggling to breathe, and as a crowd gathers, Jehu runs back to the ship and sneaks back aboard.

On the morning of April 3rd, 1950, Jehu confides the events of the previous night to Alden, and Alden convinces Jehu to go back to the bar and apologize to Ellen. Jehu agrees, and the two head out into Chapuis once more. However, as they approach the bar, they hear the sound of planes overhead, and to their horror they see a squadron of Drambenburgian-marked bombers descending on the town. They release their bombs, striking several military structures in addition to the pub. Horrified and determined to save Ellen, Jehu runs inside the burning structure of the bar and locates an injured Ellen, pulling her from the building and assisting her in getting to a field hospital within the town.

Meanwhile, on board the ZMS Keenan, Commander Tomas recieves a call from fleet Admiral Adrien Carbonneau, ordering the carrier to head out to sea and face an approaching Drambenburgian carrier fleet churning through the Strait of Cranes. As most of the crew is not on board the ship, Tomas sends out runners to the town to call all hands back to ship. A runner encounters Jehu and Alden in the field hospital as Jehu comforts a seriously injured Ellen, and orders them back to the Keenen to prepare for battle. Jehu, still furious from his grounding and desperate to stay with Ellen, has to be convinced by Alden to return to the ship.

Act Two

Aboard the Drambenburgian carrier Stassen, Grossadmiral Torben Steinbauer evaluates the plan he has set in motion as the bombers which struck Chapuis and Périnnois return to the flight deck. Steinbauer confidently assesses that the Zamastanian carrier fleet will be drawn into a confrontation with their fleet, and he aims to use waves of bombers to sink their ships after they leave range of port, but before they can arrive to his fleet. As the bombers refuel, Steinbauer recieves confirmation from a submarine near Ossinia that the carriers are on a tragectory to align in one massed group, which excites Steinbauer and he leads a toast for his crew.

The Keenen leaves port and meets up with the QNAV Belsavian, and the two ships head to meet with the Calgary and the Westerly. Jehu and Alden are not cleared for flight in the labeled strike crews, and though Alden is fine with this, Jehu is still frustrated and is tasked with deck maintanence. As the Keenen and Belsavian steam ahead, Drambenburgian planes are spotted and descend on the carriers. With few planes prepared to take off and only two frigates defending, the carriers are easy targets. The Keenen is struck within moments of the attack by a torpedo, which erupts in the ammo banks and the ship rocks hard and stalls. Commander Tomas orders all fighters and bombers on the deck to take off immediately, and as Jehu and Alden start assisting in the preparations of their assigned deck, a Drambenburgian fighter strafes the runway and evaporates several crewmen, including the pilot of the fighter Jehu and Alden were working on. Another bomb bounces across the deck and destroys several planes, and a well-placed anti-aircraft fire hits an attacking fighter which careens into the flight deck, killing most of the command of the Keenen. Commander Tomas, who is gravely injured, is able to make it to the flight deck and lifts Jehu and Alden's grounding, telling them to get into their planes and head to the rest of the fleet to prepare them for the assault. Jehu and Alden get into their planes and are able to take off, with Jehu engaging in a dogfight with a Drambenburgian plane and taking significant damage to his aircraft before Alden shoots down their opponent. Commander Tomas and the surviving crew of the Keenen board lifeboats and evacuate the ship, just in time to watch the carrier lift out by her stern, smash back down into the water, and capsize. Jehu and Alden lead the 4 other surviving planes which managed to take off away from the Keenen, and they watch from a distance as the Belsavian and escort frigates fight off the attacking Drambenburgian planes.

Jehu, Alden, and the surviving pilots land on the ZMS Westerly and their planes are tended to, as Commander Elbert Alexander tells them that the Belsavian was also sunk, as well as a Quetanan destroyer, the Lieia. Though rescue ships are picking up survivors and the Drambenburgian bombers have returned to their carriers, Commander Tomas has died from his injuries. Jehu and Alden are tasked with providing first hand accounts of the Drambenburgian bomber tactics, as this was the first ever instance of an attack on a carrier fleet since the war began. Jehu and Alden describe how the Drambenburgian bombers attack in waves, and that fighters often join in the descent to bomb the ships, which presents an opportunity to hit not only the attacking planes when they're less protected, but the Drambenburgian fleet if the next wave of planes hasn't yet taken off. Commander Alexander relays this to Admiral Carbonneau, who orders an attack on the Drambenburgian carrier fleet. The operation will be led by Commander Dany Bachelet, and Jehu and Alden will fly in the mission as well.

As night falls, the flight crews runs through their plan. Commander Bachelet's team will fly in a northern pattern to avoid detection by the Drambenburgian fleet, while Alden's team will stay in a protective stance around the Zamastanian fleet. Jehu's team is tasked with diverting fighters away from bombers attempting to strike the Zamastanian carriers, which they hope will be enough of a distraction to the Drambenburgians to allow Bachelet to hit the Stassen. As the sun rises, Bachelet's team takes off, as Jehu and Alden wait for the impending Drambenburgian attack.

Act Three

Admiral Steinbauer has not yet launched his planes from the Stassen, as he is waiting for a message from his submarine following the Zamastanian carriers to confirm whether or not the planes have launched from the deck. If they haven't launched, Steinbauer has calculated that the effects would yeild similar success as the previous attack, but if they have launched then Steinbauer is ready to hold back from launching. The submarine messages back to the Stassen, having not realized that Bachelet's squadron had taken off early in the morning, and says that all planes are still on the decks of the carriers. With this, Steinbauer orders his planes to take off with the intention of sinking the Calgary and the Westerly.

Hours later, Commander Alexander sees the approaching Drambenburgian planes and orders Jehu and Alden's squads into the air to defend the fleet. At the same time, he radios Bachelet to confirm the attack is underway, and Bachelet prepares his run, turning his squad on approach to the Drambenburgian fleet. The ploy seems to have worked.

Above the Zamastanian fleet, the opposing fighter squadrons engage in intense dogfighting, with Alden quickly scoring a hit on a Drambenburgian fighter and sending it into the ocean. Jehu is flying more aggressively, trying to ward planes away from the carriers but only managing to take a small amount after him and his wingman, Job Bradley. The rouse to divert enough Drambenburgian fighters has not worked as well as planned, and when Bradley's plane is shot down, Jehu returns to the fleet to protect the vessels head on.

Meanwhile, Bachelet and his squadrons have found the Stassen, and descend upon it. With no fighters protecting it and with very little anti-air defenses, it is just as vulnerable as the Keenen was. Bachelet's first dive misses the carrier as it performs evasive manuevers, and two of his planes are lost, but an escort ship is badly damaged by a torpedo and begins to sink. Steinbauer, realizing the danger, orders his reserve planes to launch, but as they attempt to take off, Bachelet's team goes in for a second dive. This time, as the Stassen cannot perform evasive manuevers to allow its planes to take off, nearly all bombs hit their target. The Stassen erupts as the hull of the ship is pierced, and the massive cloud from the carrier's explosion can be seen from the Zamastanian fleet more than 50 miles away. Steinbauer is killed, and as the remaining fleet of Drambenburgian carriers dozens of miles back realize what has occurred, they steam ahead to encounter the Zamastanians. However, due to unprepardness, they are unable to launch their own planes again, and Bachelet's squadrons descend on them. Another Drambenburgian carrier, the Essen, is badly damaged and stalls in the water, and several more escort ships take extensive damage. The second in command after Steinbauer, Harald Honigsmann, orders the Drambenburgian fleet to regroup and calls back fighters from the assault on the Zamastanian fleet.

Back at the Zamastanian carriers, Jehu and Alden are still engaging in intense dogfighting when they witness a Drambenburgian bomber team descending on the Westerly. Both Jehu and Alden go after the team and successfully shoot them down, preventing the Westerly from being hit. During their celebration, however, Alden's plane is hit and explodes, killing him. Jehu, in revenge, flies after the Drambenburgian plane which shot down Alden, and this act allows for a clearing which the Drambenburgian bombers take advantage of, descending on the Calgary and scoring direct hits, causing it to sink rapidly. As the Zamastanian planes continue to engage, the remaining Drambenburgian planes suddenly retreat, having recieved orders from Honigsmann to retreat. Overcome with shock and guilt, Jehu lands his plane on the Westerly, where he is heralded as a hero by Commander Alexander, but is condemned by several of his flying partners for his recklessness.

The surviving Drambenburgian planes arrive back to their fleet to find the Stassen sunk and the Essen burning, and they are forced to land on an amphibious assault ship, causing many of them to take damage in their landings. The successful attack by Bachelet has caught the Drambenburgians so off guard that they abandon their aim to sink the remaining carrier, and instead begin to head back to port in Drambenburg. While technically a victory for Drambenburg in having sunk three allied carriers and a destroyer, the suprise raid causing Drambenburg to withdraw and the nearly one hundred planes lost, their top admiral killed, and their flagship carrier destroyed, is a crushing blow to moral. There will not be many more carrier engagements throughout the course of the war.

Jehu returns to Chapuis, sorrowful from the loss of his best friend and his consequential actions during battle. He instinctively walks to the pub, which is still smoldering, and realizes that Ellen may still be in the hospital. Rushing to the medical center, he sees Ellen still in her bed, with her husband standing nearby. Lt. Barnet sees Jehu, and scowls before walking away. Ellen motions for Jehu to walk over to her, and he sits by her bedside, telling him that her husband is returning to the mainland to help lead further intelligence efforts. Jehu asks if she will be staying in Chapuis, to which she responds "yes". She asks him if he'll be staying in Chapuis, and he begins to cry. Ellen takes his hand.

Years after the war, Jehu and Ellen, now married, visit a memorial to the pilots killed during the Battle of the Strait of Cranes in Chapuis. Jehu touches the name of Alden Mackey and looks out to the ocean.

Cast

• Cyrus Best as Lt. Jehu Wiley
• Andrew Green as Lt. Alden Mackey
• Francis Rouse as Commander Elbert Alexander
• Amias Parker as Commander Dany Bachelet
• Israel McCaskey as Admiral Adrien Carbonneau
• Karoline Redler as Ellen Barnet
• Adrian Einhorn as Commander Jordan Tomas
• Eric Bleich as Lieutenant Commander Matt Barnet
• Lars Heinsohn as Grossadmiral Torben Steinbauer
• Lewis Newman as Job Bradley
• Lennard Gerhardt as Harald Honigsmann
• Natan Wells as Pub bouncer
• Jasoor al-Badie as Runner 1

Production

The bulk of filming occurred in Chapuis, Ossinia, the film's namesake town where allied ships damaged during the Battle of the Strait of Cranes retreated to for repairs. Additional setting footage was filmed in Périnnois.

Most of the film's battle footage was filmed in sound stages in Anchorhead and Titania.

In order to recreate the atmosphere of pre-war Chapuis, the producers staged the film in Ossinia and used current naval facilities used by the Ossinian Armed Forces. Many members of the local population served as extras during the filming. A large-scale model of the bow section of ZMS Keenan mounted on the world's largest gimbal produced an authentic rolling and submerging of the doomed aircraft carrier. The sequence of the ship rolling out of the water and slapping down would involve one of the "biggest set elements" to be staged. Matched with computer generated imagery, the action had to reflect precision and accuracy throughout.

The vessel most seen in the movie was the Upham-class ZMS Collinworth, representing both ZMS Keenen, ZMS Calgary, and the Drambenburgian carrier Stassen. All aircraft take-offs during the movie were filmed on board the Collinworth, a museum ship in Huntington Park, Jade. The aircraft on display were removed for filming and were replaced with film aircraft as well as World War anti-aircraft turrets. Other ships used in filler scenes included ZMS Cooke during filming for the carrier sequences.