Nos années folles (2017)
Directed by André Téchiné

Film Synopsis

During the First World War, Paul Grappe suffers the fate of most young Frenchmen of his generation, which is to be sent to the Western Front to fight and die for the glory of France.  The nerve-shredding ordeal of trench warfare is more than a man of Paul's sensitivity can endure.  After an all too brief period of leave in the company of his devoted wife Louise he makes up his mind to desert, after intentionally wounding himself.  He returns to his wife and goes into hiding in the cellar, knowing that he risks being arrested and executed if he falls into the hands of the police.

Paul soon grows tired of his enforced captivity, so he takes the advice of his wife and dresses himself up as a woman whenever he goes outside.  It proves to be an effective means of disguise, so the reluctant soldier decides to pass himself off as a woman for the duration of the war.  In the guise of Suzanne he manages to avoid being sent back to the trenches and finds a new career as a transvestite prostitute.  Once the war is over, Paul finds the cross-dressing habit hard to kick.  A moment of crisis comes when Louise breaks to him the news that she is pregnant with his child.  Even in the face of impending fatherhood, Paul cannot give up being a woman...