La Bataille de Gaulle: J'Écris Ton Nom (2026)

The first 45 minutes of this sequel to De Gaulle: Résistance focuses on the heroic deeds of General Leclerc [Niels Schneider] and his men. There is also much attention paid to the crucial role of the French Resistance before Charles De Gaulle [Simon Abkarian] appears on the scene. It emphasizes how decisive Leclerc and members of the Resistance were in giving De Gaulle credibility as the de facto leader of the French people, thereby safeguarding the future of France as an independent republic. De Gaulle makes clever use of his image as a rigid military man in a brilliant display of political and military diplomacy with Churchill [Simon Russell Beale], Roosevelt [Campbell Scott], and especially his arch-rival General Giraud [Thierry Lhermitte]. A war film of the kind that even Hollywood has rarely equaled. The battle scenes in the desert and in Paris make this just slightly better than Résistance.

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Although a great diptych, and certainly a must-see for anyone interested in history, there are still some caveats.

The worst part: black and white. In the film, fraternally side by side; in reality, 99% fighting in their own regiments. Which makes you wonder whose freedom the Africans were fighting for. More than half of the free French were black.

Except during the liberation of Paris. Then the army was suddenly, on the orders of the Americans in particular, whitewashed!

A protest later that year—1944—against their treatment and the withholding of pay ended in a bloodbath. Shame on us....

Furthermore, the French resistance was even more divided than appears in the film. In 1944, during the chaos of the liberation, thousands of French people were murdered by French people. Just great.

And yes, Roosevelt did have a crazy idea to split up France, but it never went beyond a crazy idea. The map of New Wallonia is a nice invention. Roosevelt was afraid that De Gaulle would become the next dictator, and in that, as the film shows, you couldn't entirely blame him.

In the Fifth Republic, which he later created, the president therefore holds unrestrained power. This is the reason why Macron, for example, was able to effortlessly sideline parliament during the reform of the pension system. By the way, that other near-dictator is based across the pond.

But the films beautifully show that two great men, initially all alone, made a great, unforgettable contribution to our freedom.

It is a pity that we are once again letting ourselves be seduced so easily by villains and risk squandering our freedom. But that aside.

Note: Be sure to watch the first part first; you will understand everything much better.

Translated from Dutch · View original

While the first part still possessed some subtlety, that is completely abandoned here and chauvinism comes to the surface. But that is fine. Once again, not a very profound film (it remains a long summary and the beginning is told in a very messy way), but it is entertaining for the entire running time and interesting to watch. What makes this film just a bit better than part 1 is the political aspect, and especially Roosevelt behaving like a Trump and his America First. Fascinating to watch. Furthermore, all the characters are portrayed very well. They are all caricatures, really, but the actors manage to maintain just the right balance to keep it realistic – Churchill, in particular, is fantastic. 3.5*.

Translated from Dutch · View original