Pétain

THE PEOPLE GO WHERE THE POWERS THAT BE LEAD THEM - CHARLES PEGUY

Welcome to Radio France News. This is Mr. Paul Reynaud

Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense and War.

I am here to announce a serious event to the French people.

We knew that dark days would come.

And they have come.

France has been invaded hundreds of times but never defeated.

Each time, the strength of our soldiers

of every French woman and man

increase tenfold.

Misfortune has always made our country stronger.

We've never been more united than we are today.

FRANCE, BEGINNING OF JUNE 1940

On the new frontline, our great leader Weygand

in accordance with Marshal Pétain

on the Somme and the Aisne, and we will hold out.

And because we shall hold out, we shall be victorious.

Boys, an officer is coming.

Give me your arm.

Get him a chair.

Do you think the Krauts will come?

They're on our tail. They don't march, they run.

I thought we were sending the Huns home with a boot up their asses.

They'll set up camp.

Here, Lieutenant.

Thank you.

-Where do you live? -Vichy, Lieutenant.

Vichy. Is it nice there?

It's nicer in summer. But it's home to me.

Don't complain. At least in your hometown we'll be safe.

My sows have been needing to be bled for three weeks.

But the abattoir has been closed since the start of the attack.

The slaughterers are all at the front.

Your pigs will be happy about that.

I'm leaving them in your care, Mr. Mayor.

I don't know how long I'll be gone for.

I'll take care of them like I would my own sons.

-France first. -Yes.

I'm going to fight for the armistice.

The Krauts!

What the hell…?

Come on.

-Make way. -Up you get.

-Don't push! -They'll be here soon.

-What? -The Krauts are almost here.

Move!

Mom!

What turns my stomach is the thought of our youth dying like animals.

Give me my drops, please.

Five. We have to stop this massacre.

Ten. We can't relive the slaughter of 1914.

-Have you seen my Mom? -No.

-Have you seen my mother? -No.

Mom? Mom?

Mom?

Mom?

Mom?

Marshal, Sir.

Marshal.

Come on.

Come on.

Marshal, take shelter. It could start again at any moment.

Paul, you're getting on my nerves.

Hélène, we can't waste any more time.

Let me get on with it.

A strategic retreat doesn't mean we can't choose a restaurant.

Hello. Are you serving lunch?

I haven't got much left.

-Half of it's gone. -For Mr. Paul Reynaud, Prime Minister?

Next to the window.

It's good to be in France.

Ask for an armistice, Paul. Listen to the Marshal.

-You're always talking about him. -But he's a great man.

A great man who taught me what pleasure is.

Ah.

Wonderful.

Thank you.

I would sit on his knee when I was three years old.

My dear friend, you have certainly remained a child.

But this is not child's play. This is the French government.

What's childish is a government that leaves without knowing where to go.

The Germans have crossed the Seine.

This time, it's stupid to say we'll fight until only the last man's left standing.

It would be criminal.

Marshal? Your soup is ready.

I lost my father at Verdun. You must have known him. Tall, red hair.

Be quiet, Mélanie! You're bothering the Marshal.

I have two sons, Marshal. Michel, on the Maginot Line.

And Baptiste, Sergeant of the 27th Regiment.

Will you do something for them?

Tired, but above all, furious.

They've decided to throw the government out on the streets.

This puppet government.

-I can't even reach them. -But you're part of the government?

Yes. They want to send me to château de Nitray.

-They're taking me as their mascot. -Where?

Nitray. Look it up on the map.

It's over. The English are abandoning us.

But what about you? How are you?

Little Ménétrel has just arrived. I have to go. Goodbye.

Great, you've come right in the middle of all this mess. Take off your hat.

Marshal, Sir.

Marshall, Sir, I've been speaking to our French citizens on the road.

-They're comparing you to Joan of Arc. -Joan of Arc was 19.

And you have the heart of an adolescent

in the body of a patriarch.

Joan of Arc was miraculously young and you're miraculously old.

You like extremes because that's what strikes people most.

-You think? -That's why we brought you here.

Don't let them take your glory then scurry away like rabbits.

How? How did it come to this in France?

Because of the Jews, Marshal.

Everything was going well up until the Popular Front.

But the Republic is not a metaphor.

People only think of leisure now. They shun the idea of effort.

What a waste.

What a mess and a waste!

Say…

What do you think of Laval?

Laval is one of the ones that got us in the most trouble

with his second-rate democracy. He's all at sea.

Even the MPs have kicked him out.

That's precisely it, my good man, isn't it?

An ex Prime Minister who ends up as an MP in the countryside will be vengeful.

Boudot! If we have to get through the whole war in reverse

it might be time to change the old jalopy.

Yes, Sir.

I'm joking. But it's a shame it's come to this.

All this for Danzig.

What the hell were we doing in that war?

Now we have to avoid the worst. Use our trump card.

-What trump card? -Our only one, Boudot. Pétain.

The Marshal? He's more than 90 years old.

84, Boudot. In his prime. The one man the French will follow.

Besides, he's all we have.

The Marshal. Lets say he takes power. What then?

What then? He's just an ornament.

I'll put him on the mantelpiece and dust him from time to time.

He loves that.

The most important thing is to stop fighting.

Arms never achieve anything good. Ever.

Thy don't want women in government.

THE CHATEAU OF CANGÉ

They refuse us the right to vote. And look where it gets us!

It's a real mess.

Do something about it, my friend!

Hello, Mandel.

My dear friend.

Get in the back, I think there's still a spot.

-What's all this? -The government has arrived from Paris.

It's like the circus has arrived.

My dear Weygand.

We should have stayed in Paris. There was less traffic.

What the hell's going on?

-Mr. President. -Oh, my dear friend.

-Dashing as ever. -And yet the situation is rather…

-The meeting will take place in… -Good day.

Rumors of course. According to Weygand, the communists have taken the Élysée.

They're undermining morale.

It's you stirring things up. Peace must come one way or another. So decide.

So while the soldiers are fighting, the government has decided to flee.

The question is: how do we continue to fight?

It would be good if a few ministers got killed.

-We must resist, whatever the cost. -Impossible!

-With what resources? -Are you refusing

-to obey government orders? -Listen.

I am a man. A free man.

When my conscience tells me not to do something, I cannot do it.

Do you grant a soldier the right to disobey when his conscience dictates?

No, of course not.

Then your idea of obedience strikes me as curious, to say the least.

The Germans have 140 divisions. I barely have 50.

Columns of armed vehicles are breaking through and sowing panic.

There are millions of refugees on the roads.

I can't move a single regiment without crushing civilians!

50 divisions is a lot… You can't look at it like that.

It's still an army, Minister. But it's an army on its knees.

Which is why I think the French government

shouldn't waste another moment before asking the Germans

-for an armistice. -Out of the question!

Don't forget France is not alone. There's the English.

The English will fold. The Germans will get through. We're done!

We have the colonies… North Africa.

-The Empire. -Bastards!

You don't understand anything. I'm out of here.

I believe the Marshal has something to announce.

I do not believe we should abandon France

and accept the suffering that will be imposed upon the Fatherland

and its subjects.

The French renaissance will be the fruit of this suffering.

And the French revival will arrive if we stay put.

I hereby declare, that even if I have to leave the government,

I refuse to leave French soil.

I shall remain with the French people to share their sorrows

and misery.

Armistice, in my view is the necessary condition

for the survival of France.

This proposal is an affront to France's honor.

The Germans are at the door. Is this the time to play American songs?

A bit of bravery wouldn't hurt.