Un village français

This TV show describes the life of ordinary people in a small town of rural France during the German occupation in WWII. It is extremely well documented, cleverly written and very well played. The great plus of this series is that it meticulously analyzes the mechanisms which brought some people to collaborate with the Germans and others to resist, without judging, without falling into easy generalizations. The treatment of the small communist cell's actions is particularly spot on. I highly recommend this show to anyone interested in WWII, and anyone who wants to understand life during a war, and how good people can come to serve a fascist regime.

I wasn't sure about watching this series but I was really hooked by Episode 3 of the first season. However, a couple of my favorite French stars, Thierry Godard and Audrey Fleurot, drew me to the series. It was well worth it. I just completed the last season and have since purchased the entire series. I have never done that before.

The story behind the citizens of the town is intriguing all through their lives and to the final episodes as I watched them decline in health and appearance. It is a fascinating story of the Occupation and how the war affected these citizens of an obscure French village. Viewers were introduced to the harsh reality of war in France if you watched "Band of Brothers" but this shows the sorrow, death and troubling decisions citizens had to make as the war and occupation moved on.

I recommend this to all viewers. Yes, it takes a lot of time to watch it but it is worth it.

This series is one of the best I've ever seen, the acting, the setting, and all of the historical details done so extremely well. It truly is a shame that this series does not have broader coverage here in the U.S., it would be an excellent choice for airing on HBO. The broad history behind this series is true, the experiences and brutal choices that have to be made by a population under occupation; and it makes one think "How would I cope under the same circumstances?" In watching each episode, I can't wait to see the next one. The cast of characters with different perspectives and story lines blends together flawlessly, and you end up caring about all of them. Truly well done.

"Un village français" is one of these rare TV series which suck you in through realistic plots mixing suspense, love, betrayal without being sensationalist, and staying simple (although the numerous love triangles are a little too much at times). French TV being filled with painfully mediocre, if not absolutely bad series, "Un village français" stands out as the best one out there, by far.

The realism of it is one of the factors which make it great. The actors are superb, their characters genuine, the women beautiful in a classy way (not tasteless bombshells), and the plots explore simple people's decisions during the hard circumstances of the Occupation, without ever openly judging their acts.

The series starts kind of slow. I'd say the first season is the weakest yet, even though it has the ultimate spectacular scenes when the German army takes control of the village. The series only gets better as the viewer is more familiar with each character, and follows their individual paths, their interactions, their fears and decisions. It takes its time. It doesn't rush into the events of the Occupation, and rather presents the slow evolution of French Collaboration as things get harsher and more fixed, and the characters ultimately need to find themselves and chose their definite side, or remain torn.

As said before, "Un village français" doesn't judge, staying remarkably neutral when possible, not opting for an easy manichean presentation of the Occupation. Many characters turned collaborators are not bad people and even try to do good, like the mayor of the village, or one young woman who has an affair with a German soldier. Even the young chief of police (Jean Marchetti) is likable. As I'm writing this, the series is only in its fourth season, so I can't wait to see how these characters will be treated in the last season which will presumably depict the Liberation. Hopefully, it will continue to show the harsh reality (I'm expecting head shavings, trials, public dishonor, executions, escapes and pardons... the characters are so diverse that each fates are possible).

A great TV series, which I highly recommend to those who have a chance to see it.

Fantastic series. It makes the war real, very concrete: not the battles, which we have seen before, but the struggles of ordinary people, trying to understand what's happening, and what that means for their convictions, their acts, who they are. They're slowly adjusting. We all ask ourselves what we would have done, but we forget about "time". Dealing with and understanding the occupation and atrocities took time. It's hard to understand now how people could be horrible, but it was hard then too. The war is hard, what happens to adults horrible. But, I have to say that the part about the Jewish children is unbearable, excruciating. This hits the limits of human understanding. As a mother, I couldn't go through it. Nobody could face this. We all know what happened, and can't accept it, but seeing this so real...