De Gaulle: Resistance (15)
Cast: Campbell Scott, Florian Lesieur, Tom Mison, Niels Schneider, Simon Abkarian, Simon Russell Beale, Benoit MagimelGenre: Drama
Author(s): Berenice Vila, Antonin Baudry
Director: Antonin Baudry
Release Date: 28/08/2026
Running Time: 158mins
Country: Fr/Bel/US
Year: 2026
In June 1940, France signs an armistice following Germany's victory at the Battle of France. General Charles de Gaulle makes abundantly clear his disapproval and displeasure when a regime fronted by Marechal Petain collaborates with the Nazis. De Gaulle escapes to London and seeks an audience with Winston Churchill to convince the battle-scarred Prime Minister that the people of France will rise up against the Germans to protect the country's heart and soul. The rest of the world is unconvinced.
LondonNet Film Review
De Gaulle: Resistance (15) Film Review from LondonNet
Simon Abkarian embodies one of the defining and divisive figures of French wartime resistance in an exhaustive biographical drama in two parts directed by Antonin Baudry. Based on British historian Julian T Jackson’s award-winning biography De Gaulle: A Certain Idea Of France, the first chapter opens in June 1940 with the signing of an armistice following Germany’s victory at the Battle of France. A meaty second course, De Gaulle: Liberte, follows on September 18…
General Charles de Gaulle (Abkarian) makes abundantly clear his disapproval and displeasure when a regime fronted by Marechal Petain (Alain Libolt) collaborates with the Nazis. Admiral Francois Darlan (Mathieu Kassovitz), who effectively controls the French navy, remains loyal to Petain but refuses to surrender the fleet to the Germans. De Gaulle escapes to London and seeks an audience with Winston Churchill (Simon Russell Beale) to convince the battle-scarred Prime Minister that the people of France will rise up against the Germans to protect the country’s heart and soul.
The rest of the world, and notably US President Franklin D Roosevelt (Campbell Scott), is unconvinced by de Gaulle’s unwavering belief in the fighting spirit of his countrymen and -women. Glimmers of hope appear and resistance fighters and students rally, including impetuous young patriot Fernand Bonnier de la Chapelle (Florian Lesieur). Fernand watches with pride as De Gaulle looks to northern Africa to establish the Free France movement and extend patriotic pride around the world to support the British and other Allies as they weather German aerial bombardments and plan the invasion of territory occupied by the enemy.
De Gaulle: Resistance is a confidently staged and frequently exhilarating history lesson, distilling around two years of political manoeuvring into a little over two-and-a-half hours of screen time. There are no noticeable longueurs and a script co-written by director Baudry and Berenice Vila mines humour from the tragicomic double act of de Gaulle and Churchill at a turning point in history. The marked height difference between Abkarian and Russell Beale feeds into the naturally funny interplay and the two actors are well-matched in more serious moments as statesmen cut from markedly different cloth, conducting many of their exchanges in French.
Thrilling milestones in de Gaulle’s rise are recreated with verve. The Battle of Bir Hakeim in 1942 North Africa led by General Koenig (Benoit Magimel) is a pulse-quickening highlight. Around 3000 Free French soldiers, outnumbered roughly 10 to one, hold their position in the Libyan desert against the advancing Germans for over two weeks to protect Allied troops in Tobruk. “Betting on de Gaulle seems something like a leap of faith, don’t you think?” a British cynic observes at one point. Baudry’s picture is a very safe bet.
– Jo Planter
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