Dang, but did this film grab me. Lambert Wilson as De Gaulle--is he, as Churchill asks him at one point, a genius or a madman? There are SO many brilliant things about this film that I'll overlook the one other reviews seem to point out: the annoying concentration on the young daughter with Down's Syndrome. Nothing in the script establishes the influence such a child *must* have played on her father's will to save an entire nation; we must infer it.
Much, much more importantly to me as an American, the reason I cried so often during the film wasn't always because of how shoddily De Gaulle was treated by frikkin' everyone except his wife and family. Rather, this explains more than just emotions: the French simply don't make "manly man" films. The result is that other countries, no matter their language, often deride not only French cinema, but the French themselves for the testosterone-free movie reels.
"De Gaulle" mirrors "The Darkest Hour." Charles De Gaulle is as bull-headed and alpha male as Churchill. AND I LOVED IT. It was... real. Real French men are like this. The bad and hurtful jokes aimed the Hexagon's way are as hurtful as they are because they're not true--and yet France cinema seems to take pride in a neglect of manliness, old-school manliness.
Art direction is A+++. Pacing, the same. The problem is that Winston Churchill had at least five major films about him in the 90s and this century alone, and De Gaulle needs as many. Charles De Gaulle was not effete. He turned out to be his nation's savior. Maybe there's a connection between the two, making his life worth more manly-man film.
Superb.
Much, much more importantly to me as an American, the reason I cried so often during the film wasn't always because of how shoddily De Gaulle was treated by frikkin' everyone except his wife and family. Rather, this explains more than just emotions: the French simply don't make "manly man" films. The result is that other countries, no matter their language, often deride not only French cinema, but the French themselves for the testosterone-free movie reels.
"De Gaulle" mirrors "The Darkest Hour." Charles De Gaulle is as bull-headed and alpha male as Churchill. AND I LOVED IT. It was... real. Real French men are like this. The bad and hurtful jokes aimed the Hexagon's way are as hurtful as they are because they're not true--and yet France cinema seems to take pride in a neglect of manliness, old-school manliness.
Art direction is A+++. Pacing, the same. The problem is that Winston Churchill had at least five major films about him in the 90s and this century alone, and De Gaulle needs as many. Charles De Gaulle was not effete. He turned out to be his nation's savior. Maybe there's a connection between the two, making his life worth more manly-man film.
Superb.