This is an excellent movie which documents the history of the French Government in the Second World War. I must admit I was quite unaware of this history which I suspect the French government and people would like to cover up. It is disgraceful history of collaboration with the Nazi's,which included persecution of the Jews, Frenchman being enlisted in the German army and huge amount of voluntary French labour being provided to the Nazi war machine.
The most disturbing and chilling aspect is the interview with the former Nazi officer who is entirely unrepentant for what Hitler did and continually claims that he did not know what was happening or that others were responsible (ie the Gestapo killed the Resistance fighters and rounded up the Jews). This person continued to wear his Nazi medals with pride twenty odd years after the war. When asked why he decided to keep wearing them, when many other German soldiers refused to wear their medals, he responded by saying that the others did not wear their medals because they had not earned them. In another scene, he starts to make some jokes in response to a question about the persecution of the Jews while a young man, who I assume is his son, smirks smugly.
One aspect of the history of France which I think the documentary glosses over were the extra-judicial killings of Nazi collaborators at the end of the war. I think that the documentary makers did not condemn these killings, but rather sought to justify them.
In conclusion, it was a great movie which will take a couple sittings to get through given that it is over four hours long.
The most disturbing and chilling aspect is the interview with the former Nazi officer who is entirely unrepentant for what Hitler did and continually claims that he did not know what was happening or that others were responsible (ie the Gestapo killed the Resistance fighters and rounded up the Jews). This person continued to wear his Nazi medals with pride twenty odd years after the war. When asked why he decided to keep wearing them, when many other German soldiers refused to wear their medals, he responded by saying that the others did not wear their medals because they had not earned them. In another scene, he starts to make some jokes in response to a question about the persecution of the Jews while a young man, who I assume is his son, smirks smugly.
One aspect of the history of France which I think the documentary glosses over were the extra-judicial killings of Nazi collaborators at the end of the war. I think that the documentary makers did not condemn these killings, but rather sought to justify them.
In conclusion, it was a great movie which will take a couple sittings to get through given that it is over four hours long.