Vaincre ou mourir

It may seem ankward from time to time, but this movie tells the story of an army lead by a true hero an army whose destiny is to be beaten, smashed, an army which fate was to lose. I have always been in love with such plots. Plots in the BRAVEHEART scheme but with less budget and such a dedication in terms of production design, care in directing. However this story was produced by LE PUY DU FOU, some producing firm whose DNA, spirit, soul is entirely dedicated to the "ideas" of those warriors of the late 1790's.... So the point of view may be realistic, no doubt, but not that factual, the Revolutionary troops are shown as evil and the Royalists - our heroes - the good guys. Because the good guys here were FOR THE KING; the total contrary to what we could have expected....and that's precisely for this reason that this movie is really worth watching. Remember BRAVEHEART, ROBIN AND MARIAN, Luc Besson's JEANNE D'ARC. It is a shame that this feature was not longer. If you like this war in Vendée, you also can try CHOUANS, from 1988. I would have prefered this awesome film produced by Gaumont, then it could have been impartial and just, but LE PUY DU FOU.... The same as if Poutine produced a film about war in Ukraine; I doubt that the Ukrainians would be shown as victims...But that doesn't mean that the Republican troops in the 1790's did not commit atrocities against civilians and populations.... But from Gaumont production, that would have been more believable.

An amazing movie. In France the movie industry is hugely the results of a leftist propaganda resulting in really bad movies. Nobody really cares about the French cinema for several decades now, but here we go. Fantastic actors, true story, hidden to the French People for so many decades. It is joyful to finally get such a great moment of art. The entire French critics got insane when this movie was release and the entire press went 100% when for the public it was as a fantastic moment of real French grandeur. My 3 kids loved it, an occasion to revisit the bloody French history and the terrible propaganda we, French People, got sunken into from our childhood.

Vaincre ou Mourir is an incredible piece of art It's got incredible storytelling, a charismatic main lead, amazing shots, breathtaking sets. All with a relatively low budget of 5 million euro.

The movie tells the story of François-Athanase de Charette de la Contrie, a young lieutenant in the French Royal Navy.

As French revolution begins, he quits the navy and returns home. His peace doesn't last long as local peasants ask him to become their leader to rise up against the revolutionary army.

Reluctantly he agrees and promises to return "dead or victorious". Thus begins his journey in the Vendee wars which made him one of the most revered figure in the region.

The film touches on controversial topic, which goes against mainstream narrative in France. It was either attacked or ignored by media but became a huge success nonetheless.

I recommend it to everyone who wants to see the untold story of the Vendee uprising.

A beautiful movie for a low-budget film shot in just 18 days!

A big unexpected success in France

A film about a very sad part of the history of France that the french republic has always sought to conceal.

Go and watch it, so that the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Vendeans will not be forgotten in the face of a republic which organized a real genocide (which is tried to be hidden...)

I hope that this theme will be discussed again because this period of history should not be forgotten.

Many other great Vendée generals also deserve a film about their history.

We will not forget all those who fought to defend their king, their religion and their freedom against the barbarism of the republic.

I know I have used that before - though I reckon I do like Her Story - more of a pun! Speaking of which - no pun intended of course. I did not know of this man and the story the movie is telling us. Everyone knows about Napoleon and other people (though even with them I doubt many know all the details - movie knowledge aside), but if you are not French (and even then) you will get a "new" story here.

I quite like the setting (time period, clothing/costumes and so forth), the action ... and it is always nice to root for the "little man" (not Napoleon in this case - sorry not sorry). So if you care about history (and his story), you will enjoy this either way. But if you like costume movies in general and don't care much about that ... you still will have a good time ... well you know what I mean ... the inevitable end will come as with every movie (well not literally) ...