De Gaulle: Liberté
The second part of a two-part series about Charles de Gaulle, the general who refused to accept France’s surrender in 1940 and continued the fight from England.
Whereas the first part focused on the period 1940–1942, this second part now covers 1943–1944. De Gaulle is not only fighting the Germans, but is above all trying to secure an independent future for France. Roosevelt would rather not see him at the helm, Churchill shifts between alliance and irritation, and General Giraud proves to be a formidable rival. In short, De Gaulle has quite a few enemies for someone who is in fact trying to liberate France from the real enemy.
Baudry makes use of archive footage to lend the various storylines a tangible sense of reality. De Gaulle holds his own both on the battlefield and in matters of state. Anyone who enjoys seeing history brought to the big screen will be captivated by the polished visual style and old-fashioned grandeur of this film, whose length does justice to the monumental figure of De Gaulle.