Douce France

"Douce France" was one of Charles Trenet's biggest hits :he sings about life's pleasures in his sweet native country.The song is heard during the final credits .Which does not mean it is a movie which depicts happiness.It's the ironical conclusion of a cruel story which sometimes recalls HG Clouzot's misanthropy ("Le Corbeau" and some scenes of "Manon" come to mind ).

The story takes place in a village in November 1942,when France was entirely occupied by the German army.In a village where the old wives' tongues were going nineteen to the dozen and where black market was running rampant, a young German Jewish singer took refuge.

A cruel story indeed.There's no heroism here but nastiness ,stupidity and bestiality.All in all,French are much more victims of their fellow countrymen than they are of the occupying forces.Hence the commercial failure of this interesting movie of the eighties.