La 7ème compagnie au clair de lune

The first movie was about the World War Two from the front lines, the second one was from the point of view of the prisoner of war. By the time you get to this movie, which is about the war on the civilian side, the whole leitmotiv of these movies becomes apparent. Although you don't need to have seen the previous ones, it is a complete and ultimate deconstruction of the narrative of World War Two in France, all neatly packaged into slapstick comedy. It is the seriousness and heft of history under the guise of goofs and gaffs. It is brilliant, it is amazing and I don't know if there has ever been anything like this.

Not only from the standpoint of a clever war film buried in the farcical comedy, but also from the scope of a series that looks at the same period from subsequent points of view and uses it to deconstruct it critically.

This film though, is the simplest in terms of story, structure and plot, but also the most effective. The overarching theme is, of course, civilian life under occupation and the Resistance. But, it is also a film that centers on domesticity and provincial life. The previous films in the series were also somewhat disengaged from the big war setpieces and the decisive military moments. It made a point of focusing on random episodes of the Battle of France and not into specific events. It was about war and not warfare. They also had many vignettes and various stereotypes that exemplified the life in French society during the first days of the conflict. This film follows into featuring events that are remote, seemingly almost random. Yet, it allows the story to present these cases of quiet heroism and deep personal sacrifice that many people experienced during that war. It's about war but not about soldiers.

Of course, our three protagonist always stumble into heroics by accident, (and frankly that is great) but there is something about self-sacrifice and resilience that courses throughout the film. The missus, the forest guide or even the collaborationist; most of the characters give up on comfort or security for a cause or an ideal. The notable exception would be the handsome Resistance officer, but that is a fun figure to provide a contrast to our heroes.

The film's true innovation, with respect to the previous ones, is the figure of Lambert, who is a Gestapo French collaborationist and the first antagonist we see in these series. Except for minor German officers, these movies never really gave a face to the occupants and bad guys were always faceless and anonymous. Lambert is such a great character, because of the performance of Pousse that makes him magnificently evil but also because it distils in simple terms the arguments of historian Robert Paxton. Who argues that the Vichy regime wasn't a shield against German brutality, as its defenders would claim, but instead it helped the Nazis going much further in their genocide and oppression than they would without it, and showed a lot of zeal in being pro-Nazi. Of course Lambert gets his comeuppance in a deliciously Guignol way at the end.

This film is the cherry on top of a series of movies that pretend they are stupid, but are actually astutely smart. It a series of light-hearted comedies that shine a light on diverse and varied aspects of life during wartime. They are damn good war movies, but also loads of fun.