Film is the closest to a time-machine that we yet know, and this remarkable compilation of authentic newsreels from the Vichy period, (and let's not forget, the Vichy regime was officially recognised as the legitimate government of France by the USA, the USSR and the Vatican), are particularly chilling since so much of what the politicians and official spokesmen of those times said is unsettlingly close to much of today's political rhetoric. We hear of a United States of Europe, "a New World Order" that is "all" Hitler is seeking to achieve, and how `patriotism' is always free of dissent or criticism. That people constantly fall for this jingoistic rubbish is a cause for mourning rather than celebration, and these films clearly illustrate the overlooked historic fact that France was not `occupied' but had reached an armistice with Germany under the terms of which Germans were allowed to operate in the Northern sector of France. It also shows that Vichy needed no prompting from the Nazis to implement anti-Jewish legislation and eventual persecution and relied on good old French anti-Semitism to get away with it. This film also makes one wonder just how France was deemed `qualified' to administer a zone in post-war Germany, and how truly dangerous it was to be heroic enough to be a member of the Resistance. History is always written by the victors, but the uncomfortable gaps in their given version are exposed when you can see these shadows from the frontline experience. A vital and exceptionally important document.
6 Reviews
An interesting movie for French history buffs
richard-178724 May 2009
As one poster has already commented, this is a movie designed for those who already know what happened in France in World War II - a French audience, in other words. If you have that knowledge, it is indeed fascinating to see how the Vichy government used newsreels to shape French thought - a classic example of Big Brother in action. Watching this movie also requires that you put yourself back in the era to an extent, to realize the impact these newsreels would have had. Today, we get our news from endless different sources. In World War II, there were newspapers, radio, and what was shown at the local movie house. Since the government could control all three of those, it did. (Yes, there was also short wave radio, which was how the French got news from England.) What I would have liked at the end is a few sentences telling us what became of each of the big figures in the newsreels: Pétain, Doriot, etc.
How the war was portrayed to those under German occupation
dbborroughs14 July 2008
Claude Lelouch weaves together Vichy and German newsreels to paint a portrait of how they wanted to portray the war to those under occupation.
Interesting look at how the Vichy government presented itself and the war to the people it was ruling over. More a footnote film rather than a full meal it moves along at a good clip and never gets boring. The film assumes you have some knowledge of the war since the narration of Brian Cox (in the English version) is geared to briefly putting what you are seeing in context of dates not for telling you anything particularly deep. The film is the march of the war across the movie screens of France, the deeper implications of what we are seeing is left for the passage of time and the viewer to fill in, we know how different things are because history has told us what really was going on. Some of the best bits are some weirdly chilling moments as the news reel narration is placed by Resistance broadcasts. In those moments time shifts and we are truly back in France during the Occupation. If there is any real flaw it's that we never see anything complete we see only clips. It would have been nice to see one complete newsreel so that we got a feel for how the news was presented.
Recommended for those with an interest in how the war was seen by a conquered people.
Interesting look at how the Vichy government presented itself and the war to the people it was ruling over. More a footnote film rather than a full meal it moves along at a good clip and never gets boring. The film assumes you have some knowledge of the war since the narration of Brian Cox (in the English version) is geared to briefly putting what you are seeing in context of dates not for telling you anything particularly deep. The film is the march of the war across the movie screens of France, the deeper implications of what we are seeing is left for the passage of time and the viewer to fill in, we know how different things are because history has told us what really was going on. Some of the best bits are some weirdly chilling moments as the news reel narration is placed by Resistance broadcasts. In those moments time shifts and we are truly back in France during the Occupation. If there is any real flaw it's that we never see anything complete we see only clips. It would have been nice to see one complete newsreel so that we got a feel for how the news was presented.
Recommended for those with an interest in how the war was seen by a conquered people.
Honest look at a shameful past....
ChrisGarrity19 October 2000
exceptional documentary, for once not spoiled by 'comments'
r-c-s14 December 2008
Warning: Spoilers
This is an awesome collection of archive footage from the Vichy regime. What sets it apart from countless surrogates is that today's 'commentaries' is kept to a bare minimum. A caption forewarns that the footage depicts France NOT as it was, but as the Vichy regime wanted it to be seen... Oh really? Isn't what media are all about, serving the powerful? But I suppose the point they want to make is that there are 'good' puppeteers and 'evil' puppeteers...Vichy was evil, while England or USA were good... It is no hatred encyclopaedia, either. You watch infomercials peddling fabric made of human hair collected at hairdressers' and of 'alternative fuel' for vehicles (I don't know how effective, but it shows that was doable in the 1940s, while today we're told to wait while the next cheque from oil producers clears in the pockets of the 'good' ones ). There is a lot of propaganda hailing Pétain (voted into power by the legitimate French Parliament in Assemblée Nationale 569 votes for, 80 against and 17 abstentions ), but Pétain appears rather sad and trying to make the best with what he's got. After the war they said the above vote was a joke and none had ever wanted Pétain to take power. Now Pétain's motto was to distance France as much as possible from "l'affreuse aventure" and the institutions that had caused it. Priceless is the NIMBUS LIBERE' cartoon depicting the 'liberation' of France: French listeners to Radio Londres are forewarned the 'good ones' are coming...overjoyed by the news, a family awaits because 'they are coming'...what comes, though, are allied bombers that bomb their house into oblivion. It is also apparent how Vichy represented the French who never fully (or at all) endorsed the Jacobin legacy of the French Revolution, but were closer to clerical and royalist values. Recommended for collectors and history amateurs.
Astounding
JasparLamarCrabb1 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Claude Chabrol's excellent film documents the alternate history that the Vichy government, in collaboration with the Germans, proposed to the French from 1940-1944 via newsreels. A sinister undertaking, the puppet government of Petain attempted to show the collaboration with Germany as a good thing for France and a good thing for the French people. Meanwhile, men were being shipped off to work in German factories, French Jews were deported to concentration camps, and everyday essentials (like food and electricity) were being denied. This is a brilliant look at a time that is so outré, it's hard to believe it's such recent history. Each fake newsreel is more outrageous than the next, from phony unemployment numbers to propaganda cartoons featuring American icons like Mickey Mouse & Popeye. Chabrol offers no overt opinion and lets the footage speak for itself. An astounding, one- of-kind look at the German occupation.
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