(Frenchmen if only you knew)
A film by ANDRÉ HARRIS and ALAIN DE SÉDOUY. English version introduced by MICHAEL CHARLTON
This two-part film by the French journalists who helped make the controversial documentary The Sorrow and the Pity, is a deliberately provocative study of the France that produced General de Gaulle, who died on 9 November 1970.
Part 1: General, nous voila (General, here we are)
The film follows the events that led to the collapse of France in 1940; from the slaughter of Verdun in 1917 to the disaster of the Maginot Line. De Gaulle, a little-known general, appeals over the BBC for Frenchmen to fight on and in 1944 returns to France to take over the government. Liberation brings stories of what some Parisiennes offered GIs, but also disillusion and retribution. Petain, who signed the armistice with the Germans, is charged with treason; 'For de Gaulle to be legitimate,' says his defending counsel, 'Petain had to be a traitor '. And at 9.50
Part 2: Je vous ai compris (I have understood you)
For eight years from 1954, the Algerian 'problem' tore at the very heart of France. In 1958 it catapulted de Gaulle back into power, 12 years after he had withdrawn from active politics. This film recalls the horror of the colonial struggle that cost over a million lives and the plot that leads to de Gaulle's return. But once in office, he astonishes everyone by giving Algeria independence. Some former supporters now plot against his life.
Co-directors JACQUES BRISSOT , LUC FAVORY
English version by JOHN HACKNEY, FRANK HILTON, MICHAEL BAKEWELL
Producer DAVID HARRISON
including at 9.45 News on 2; Weather