Les culottes rouges

The "red culottes" refers to tough guys in a prisoners of war camp.These die hards always try to escape ,even after several failures .On the contrary ,some prisoners are resigned to their fate ("we've lost the war") and they enjoy preferential treatment.

The camp can be looked upon an occupied France microcosm .Bourvil is the "collaborator" ,the epitome of the good prisoner .He's become indifferent to the fate of his homeland ,busy stuffing himself with sauerkraut.Laurent Terzieff is the resistant fighter ,eager to start war again.Although he forces his mate to hide him ,his contempt for this coward has no bounds.

But the two characters are not as simplistic as they appear.Antoine may be a would be hero ,but he is selfish,egocentric and intolerant.Fendard (also slang for "pants" or " hilarious" ) ,who is a bachelor who used to live with his mother ,is perhaps not as dumb as he seems to be .He's got a fiancée ,but Antoine laughs at him ,claiming he probably never took the plunge.

Bourvil and Laurent Terzieff are the perfect actors of an overlooked movie .At the same time,Terzieff also portrayed a conscientious objector in Autant-Lara's "Tu Ne Tueras Point" ,with the same aplomb.

Like this?try these....

"La Vache Et Le Prisonnier" (Verneuil ,1959;a short hint at this true story is made in "Les Culottes Rouges") "Le Caporal Epinglé " (Renoir,1961)