A French Village

[Dan McCosh]

The other thread about movies worth seeing didn't include TV shows, so I thought this one was worthwhile on its own. It's a French TV series that apparently ran for seven years. The subject is the occupation of a small town during WWII, and how the town's residents responded. Collaboration in many forms, along with resistance in many forms are portrayed by a wide variety of actors, actresses, and an intense, provocative and compelling script. I've never seen any portrayal of WWII that engages this subject. It does alter your world view, and seems particularly relevant today. Knowing nothing about French television, it seems remarkable that it ran so long as a successful TV series. Of course, it is in French, which means subtitles, which limits its distribution in the U.S. I'd be interested in hearing from those in Europe who may be familiar with the show.

[skuthorp]

…and then there's 'allo allo'
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086659/

[TomF]

Herself and I have just finished the 4-part series on Netflix "Inside Man." Wonderful performances by Stanley Tucci and David Tennant. Some great writing too.

Tucci's character is a murderer on death row, who takes occasional detective cases with the intention of doing "some good" with the time he has left. Brutally honest about anyone's capacity for violence. Wonderful lines like:

• "Anyone can be a murderer. You just haven't met the right person yet."
• "All it takes is a good reason, and a bad day."

I found it slow in patches, but the characters and the occasional incandescent insight was worth it.

[RichW]

Wife and I watched all 7 seasons of A French Village. Each season covers approximately a year of German occupation. We got the DVDs from our local library. Subtitles don't bother us; we'd much rather watch in the original language - even if we don't peak that language.
We really liked the story and became quite attached to some of the characters. I think it was a good portrayal of life under brutal occupation. And they didn't gloss over French collaboration, French treatment of Jews and retaliation after the war. Really worth watching.

[Dan McCosh]

Wife and I watched all 7 seasons of A French Village. Each season covers approximately a year of German occupation. We got the DVDs from our local library. Subtitles don't bother us; we'd much rather watch in the original language - even if we don't peak that language.
We really liked the story and became quite attached to some of the characters. I think it was a good portrayal of life under brutal occupation. And they didn't gloss over French collaboration, French treatment of Jews and retaliation after the war. Really worth watching.

I have been watching on Amazon Prime---streaming. Aside from the program (which is quite compelling), it got me thinking about how it presents WWII in a way I've never seen in the US media. Not exactly "Hogan's Heroes". Never heard of the partitioning of France, for example, let alone the multiple layers of collaboration as well as something like five resistance groups. Not to mention a war movie with virtually no combat scenes. I would like to know how it was received when it was first shown in France and Europe.

[AndyG]

It's a French TV series that apparently ran for seven years. The subject is the occupation of a small town during WWII, and how the town's residents responded.

Dang - rough area of France, that one. Occupied for seven years? Reminds me of the Sullivans. Those poor Aussies were in the war for nearly a decade.

Andy