World War II goes to the movies

7 films

Commemoration of May 8, 1945

French cinema has filmed the battles, resistance, and aftermath of World War II. It ranges from eulogistic, nationalist, and heroic works to critical and realistic films, spanning all forms and genres, from comedy and action to historical epics and more experimental essays.

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Drama, Literary adaptation, Classics19591h31
by Alain Resnais

A French actress is shooting a pacifist film in Japan; she has a brief affair with a Japanese architect, they talk, in a hotel room, in a bar, in the night. She talks about herself, a little girl from Nevers who once, in occupied France, loved a German soldier... She talks about herself, painful, radiant, terrified, appeased.

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Literary adaptation, Classics19611h30
by Henri Colpi

Therese runs a café in Paris; she lost her husband when he disappeared sixteen years earlier, and, while time has healed some of her wounds, she's still a lonely person. One day, a tramp passes by humming a familiar tune, and Therese is convinced that the vagabond is her husband. She follows him to his home, a tiny shack by the river, and tries to question him about his past. She discovers that the tramp suffers from amnesia and has no clear memory of his past. Therese brings him back to her cafe in hopes of jogging his memory and renewing the love they once knew.

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Comedy, Classics19662h02
by Gérard Oury

During World War II, two French civilians and a downed English Bomber Crew set out from Paris to cross the demarcation line between Nazi-occupied Northern France and the South.

Au revoir les enfants - Affiche
Drama, Historical film, Classics19871h35
by Louis Malle

1944, Julien is a boarder at a Catholic college. He discovers Jean, a proud and secret newcomer. Julien and Jean become friends little by little. However, this bond will never be able to blossom. One day, the Gestapo arrives at the school and arrests Father Jean and the three Jewish children he had hidden among his Catholic children.

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Experimental film, Classics19961h45
by Chris Marker

Une femme, un ordinateur, un interlocuteur invisible : tel est le dispositif à partir duquel Level Five se construit. La femme a "hérité" d’une tâche : terminer l’écriture d’un jeu vidéo consacré à la bataille d’Okinawa, une tragédie pratiquement inconnue en Occident, mais dont le déroulement a joué un rôle décisif dans la façon dont la deuxième guerre mondiale s’est achevée.

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Drama20212h47
by Arthur Harari

Fin 1944. Le Japon est en train de perdre la guerre. Sur ordre du mystérieux Major Taniguchi, le jeune Hiroo Onoda est envoyé sur une île des Philippines juste avant le débarquement américain. La poignée de soldats qu'il entraîne dans la jungle découvre bientôt la doctrine inconnue qui va les lier à cet homme : la Guerre Secrète. Pour l'Empire, la guerre est sur le point de finir. Pour Onoda, elle s'achèvera 10 000 nuits plus tard

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Historical film, Drama, Biopic20201h14
by Aurel

February 1939. Overwhelmed by the flood of Republicans fleeing the Franco dictatorship, the French government parked them in camps. Two men separated by the barbed wire will become friends. One is a gendarme, the other a cartoonist. From Barcelona to New York, the true story of Josep Bartolí, anti-Franco fighter and exceptional artist.

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