The Battle of Gaulle, Moulin, Our Salvation… Why World War II is Resurfacing in Cinema

DÉCRYPTAGE – Two months after The Rays and Shadows, the Cannes Film Festival is screening four films on the period. A work of memory that emphasizes nuance and delves into the heart of heroes as well as collaborators.

She really doesn’t look her 80 years. World War II is back on screen these days with brilliant flashes of sunlight, little soldiers, and great men. It had been a long time since the conflict had been represented with such means. Approximately 70 million euros have been allocated for the two parts of The Battle of Gaulle – a curious title – which festival-goers discovered the first episode of on Wednesday evening. Two weeks before the rest of France. The most illustrious of the French, embodied by Simon Abkarian, walked the red carpet not far from General König (Benoît Magimel) and Marshal Leclerc (Niels Schneider).

This staff embodies the new wave of films dedicated to the period and showcased at the Cannes Film Festival. Moulin, by Laszlo Nemes, illustrates the suffering of the prefect who refused to give in to Klaus Barbie, Our Salvation, by Emmanuel Marre, explores the Vichy machine, and The Third Night, by Daniel Auteuil, tells the tale of the rescue of young Jews in 1942.