De Gaulle

A moving film that focuses both on the public figure and the intimacy of General de Gaulle from April to June 1940. This time period depicts the Frenche Armistice and its inner apparatus leading to the appeal of 18 June. Some key historical and political figures such as Georges Mandel, Paul Reynaud and Marechal Petain are nicely enacted and help to understand the state of play at the time. Dialogues are key here and we follow the first political steps of a young Colonel, promoted as a provisional General, defending its views on France's dignity both admist a hostile and compromised French Government and a wary and concerned British ally. The depiction of the General's family life, both as a husband and a father is elegant and passionate. Yvonne character's is beautifully performed by Isabelle Carré, sensitive and strong, as much combative as her husband. The film follows her on very nicely orchestrated thrilling road trip. But the central character of the movie is their youngest daugther, Anne, born with Down's syndrome. The litte girl is key, impelling both husband, wife and parents to face the realities of war, survival and liberty. The acting little girl is wonderful. Is is noteworthy to conclude that the movie is the first based on the character. A must see.

I was expecting a lot from De Gaulle, as the underlying story offered a great potential, and my expectations went mostly unmet. The movie does not make the fundamental choice whether to be about the private or the public De Gaulle; as a consequence, we don't gain many insights of the life and psychology of the man nor do we learn much more at historical level. Failing this basic choice, the movie remains at a rather superficial level on both sides and left me with a sense of an unfinished work. It does not help the case that the poor acting performance of the key actors (Churchill is a grotesque caricature of himself). On the positive side, the historical accuracy is good and very good is the photography.

An interesting bit of history at a dreadful time for France. Over run by the German army with only Britain to turn to De Gaulle refused to meekly surrender.

Biopic that tells, in a dramatic way, how the French general Charles de Gaulle fought the advance of Nazi Germany during WWII, separating from his family and exiling himself to London to negotiate an alliance with Churchill. The film begins in May 1940 in Abbeville. The German army gains ground in France, but Colonel de Gaulle does not give up. Charles opts to continue the fight and ally himself with the British army against a defeatist French government that, once President Reynaud resigns, is chaired by Petain. Promoted to general for his heroic and unwavering speech, he advises his wife Yvonne to flee Colombey with her children, including a disabled girl. Along the way, Charles de Gaulle is confronted with the military and political collapse of France in 1940. Charles de Gaulle lives in London while his his wife Yvonne attempts join him, but she finds herself with her three children on the road of the exodus.

Efficiently directed by Gabriel Le Bomin and well starred by Lambert Wilson - Cesar nominated for best actor for his great work- and Isabelle Carré's dazzling acting as his wife. De Gaulle shows how the well-known statesman became a great hero of the Resistance and a brave and beloved figure who had to deal, from abroad, with countless accusations of betrayal and public humiliation. The film also explores the most personal, intimate and protagonist's family that is quite unknown to the general public. It also has nice performances from Olivier Gourmet as Reynaud, Catherine Mouchet, Pierre Hancisse, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Gilles Cohen as Georges Mandel and Tim Hudson as Winston Churchill .

Adding more biographical data to complete those exposed in the film, these are the following: Charles was commissioned as an officer during the First World War, having been wounded several times and then taken prisoner at Verdun. Pétain considered him a very good officer.1 In 1921 he married Yvonne Vendroux, with whom he had three children: Philippe (1921), Élisabeth (1924-2013) and Anne, who had Down syndrome (1928-1948). During the interwar period, he held various military positions, in particular that of secretary of the National Defense Council (1937-1940), under the command of Marshal Philippe Pétain. During the German invasion of May 1940, he led an armored division that counterattacked the invaders; later he was appointed undersecretary of war. When Paul Reynaud's government fell and the Pétain regime was established, its former boss, with the support of the Nazi collaborator, Pierre Laval, confirmed that the new authorities would not continue the war against the Third Reich and on the contrary would plan the French surrender in instead of fighting from Algeria. Refusing to accept his government's armistice with Germany, de Gaulle urged the French population to resist the occupation and continue the struggle in his June 18 appeal from London after having left the country on June 16, 1940. There he assumed the command of Free France or Fighting France. During those years he wrote the book L'Appel (between 1940 and 1942), where he exposes his vision of the war: the enormous tragedy of the occupation, the defeatist spirit, the surrender to the enemy, the call not to give up from London, the organization of Free France, the fight for its dignity in defense of all of France and the contributions that these French made to the allies, through the organization of armed forces that participated in decisive combats against the Wehrmacht. He led a government in exile (founded in London) as well as its armed forces, which were against the Axis powers. Despite the frosty relations he possessed with the United Kingdom and especially the United States, he emerged as the undisputed leader of the French resistance. He became head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic in June 1944, this being the interim government of France after its liberation.

Standing (largely) alone outside France during the German invasion, and negotiating with Churchill and what became the Vichy government De Gaulle became the symbolic leader of Free France.

No doubt the French know his story well, at least the older generation, but I left with a sense that much more could have been delivered.

The big question for me was, "What contribtion did he make after the first two weeks of the German invasion?" We don't find out until the closing credits, and then only with some information on the screen. After 1 hr 49mins that's not great.

I know the answer because I'm a student of military history, but most of that comes from an Anglo/American perspective.

Having spent a lof time demonstrating his devotion to his family, particularly his daughter Anne who has Down Syndrome and negotiations with Churchill, this is ultimately a 'meh' film. It doesn't seem overly long, but it does take a long time to do not much.

Where is the leader? What was his passion? How did he influence events? What did he do next? Thankfully, there are other places we can find the answers to these questions.