Au coeur de l'orage (1948)
Directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois

Film Review

In November 1944, with France liberated from Nazi occupation but the war in Europe far from over, the Comité de libération du cinéma français commissioned this propaganda piece with two objectives: to glorify the role of the Resistance whilst condemning the Vichy régime and all those who had supported it.  To supplement the archive material (which includes newsreel footage from both Germany and the Allies) and secretly shot footage during the Occupation, reconstructions were filmed in the spring of 1945.  Jean-Paul Le Chanois was appointed to take charge of the film, mainly because of his close affiliation with the French Communist Party.

Whilst Au coeur de l'orage makes a brave attempt to cover the full span of France's involvement in the war from 1940 to 1944 it ultimately coalesces around one incident - the attempt by resistance fighters in the Vercors to hold out against a fierce German offensive in 1944.  The difficulties of constructing a coherent narrative from the fragmentary material is apparent in the disjointed end result, and the strident anti-Vichy tirades sit ill alongside the moving accounts of heroism and sacrifice in the fight against Fascism. 

Successive rewrites delayed the film's release and by the time it saw the light of day, in 1948, the political landscape in France had changed so much that it was already seriously dated.  The film may have been a commercial success, attracting 1.6 million spectators, but it had far less impact than other films glorifying the Resistance, notably René Clément's La Bataille du rail (1946). Whilst it may not be the most subtle and well-constructed of propaganda films, Au coeur de l'orage still provides an arresting visual record of France's involvement in the Second World War, and a worthy tribute to those who fought and died to secure the cherished prize of freedom.

Film Synopsis

Throughout the dark years of Occupation, France continues the fight against Nazi Germany, through its secret army of brave resistance fighters.  Whilst the country's political leaders abase themselves as Hitler's servants, anonymous heroes keep up the struggle to free France.  Nowhere is the courage of the resistance fighters more evident than in the Vercors, a natural stronghold that has so far held out against the might of the German armies...