Les Culottes rouges

From May to June 1940, the Germans captured 1.5 million prisoners of war.

All these people were gathered into various camps scattered across Germany.

These camps were, in fact, sorting centers,

from which the prisoners of war were sent to labor detachments.

Only prisoners who had managed to become permanent staff lived in the camps:

barrack chiefs, tailors, shoemakers,

cooks, accountants, medical workers, postmen, and the like.

In contrast to this privileged category,

there were those who never came to terms with captivity and repeatedly tried to escape.

While awaiting trial, which would send them to penal camps or prison,

these habitual escapees were locked up in a barrack

surrounded by barbed wire, guarded day and night by armed sentries.

In some concentration camps, to distinguish them from others and make them easier to monitor,

the Germans forced them to wear red trousers.

They were the camp's "tough guys," known as the "red riding breeches."

They all thought about only one thing, always the same thing:

escaping again. It became an obsession, their only interest.

Schmidt was the leader of the "red riding breeches."

Schmidt, who had escaped several times and spoke German, was kept on as the barrack chief.

He found advantages in that.

And though he no longer escaped himself, he helped others escape.

He sold escape ideas to those who lacked imagination but had the means to pay.

With a cow to the border? I don't believe it.

You're wrong. Fernand believed it, and he succeeded.

- Give me the map. - Here.

Watch out, Germans!

Get up!

- No way, did you do that on purpose?! - You and your idiotic plans.

Idiots! This is already the fifth time your comrade has tried to escape!

Hide my shoes.

It's all pointless! They'll catch you anyway.

They're too big!

I'm not wearing these! What do I look like, damn it!

What crap...

Here, you bastard. 300 marks down the drain!

Well? What happened to you this time?

What's it to you?

Why are you all staring at me?

- Louis, my shoes. - Your shoes? What shoes?

- I said! - Don't get mad!

Here they are. Tra-la-la...

Got nothing to eat? I'm hungry.

Then do what Charlie Chaplin did: eat your shoe leather.

You're not on the meal list yet.

Damn it, I haven't eaten since yesterday evening.

What are you doing here?

Can't you see? I'm reading.

Go read somewhere else.

Great! Turn away for a second, and your place is gone!

And when did you buy this place?

- Are you crazy? - Your place is, at the end.

Escape 5 times like I did, and you'll get your own place. Not before!

Leave it! That was his bunk.

Tell me, Antoine, are you going to start bothering us again?

Cowards.

It's shameful to let a man who's escaping for the 5th time go hungry.

What, not even any tobacco?

They caught me 3 km from the border.

Who cares. At least I saw France!

- Jawohl! - Calm down, it's me.

- At this hour? Can't you sleep? - I can't fall asleep.

- Listen, I need to talk to you. - That doesn't mean you have to wake me up!

How many years do you get for sleeping with a German woman?

- You didn't do it, did you? - How much?!

10 years in prison.

- What if her husband is, on the Russian front? - That won't help your case.

- What if he's an officer? - Depends on his rank.

But at the very least, double the sentence.

- I'm something else. - Is that all you think about?

Getting caught twice because of a woman is stupid!

Oh, you're right about that. If I weren't such an idiot, I'd have joined de Gaulle long ago.

So, have you thought about me?

Listen, aren't you Corsican?

No, I'm from Valois. But my father is from Genoa. Why?

The doctor, the head of the infirmary, he's from Bastia.

So what?

With the last convoy, he sent Muccelli home as seriously ill.

And they only take Corsicans into the infirmary.

- Schmidt, you're a lifesaver! - Don't get excited, it's not free.

Right. How much?

2 kg of chocolate and 25 American cigarettes.

We have to grease the Germans.

Plus your cut.

My only reward is never seeing your face again!

- Levec!, Present! - Fall in!

- Brochard!, Present! - Fall in!

- Crococ!, Present! - Schnell! Schnell!

- Rocan! - Present!

- Dimitri!, Present! - Fall in!

Rossi!

Rossi!

Rossi!

At night I'm not responsible for them. I'm asleep...

Schmidt! Schmidt, look!

Ah, the bastard! He cut through the barbed wire!

Antoine! Hurry!

Schmidt! Come here! You must be present during the search!

If we don't find the escapee,

I'll send 10 "red riding breeches" to prison!

Damn, Antoine's shoes! Goodbye, 5 roll-ups!

10 days of quarry work. 10 days without light.

- Aole? - Present!

- Zerandu? - Present!

- Joani? - Present!

- Rothar? - Present!

- Rodier? - Present!

- Cordi? - Here.

- Balducci? - Present!

- Santa-Maria? - Present!

- Laurent? - Present!

- Beredon? - Present!

- Garpone? - Here.

- Forlani? - Here.

- Italian? - No.

Not Italian.

All French.

- Corsicans. - Corsicans?

What's a "Corsican"?

A Corsican. Napoleon!

Ah, yes... Napoleon.

- Are you Corsican? - Yes-yes.

- Rossi, also Corsican? - Yes.

All Corsicans, get to work quickly!

13, 14, 15, 16, 17...

18, 19, 20, 21, 22!

22 men! Forward!

Antoine Rossi in church! Life is full of surprises!

France is worth a Mass!

Not with the "red riding breeches"!

The door on the right!

Under the stage.

Been drinking the church wine again, you rascal?

Father!

No, you have!

- I marked the level. - That's beneath you!

Come on!

Oh, Mary, oh dear mother!

Keep the faith of days gone by in French hearts!

Hear from Heaven the cry of our Fatherland:

Catholics and Frenchmen-forever!

Hear from Heaven the cry of our Fatherland:

Catholics and Frenchmen-forever!

13, 14, 15, 16, 17...

18, 19, 20, 21, 22.

- Everything's fine. - Thank you.

It's nothing like the church wine back home!

Damn!

- Why are they yelling so much today? - Maybe they got beaten in Russia.

One of the "red riding breeches" escaped last night.

- Really? - He was supposed to get 20 years in prison.

They say he slept with a tank general's wife.

- No kidding! - Which one?

The one who fought in France. I don't remember his name.

Not very famous... What's his name?

There really are some nervous people!

Nervous? I call it stupidity.

What's the point of escaping? They always catch you anyway.

It only makes things worse for everyone.

They even interrupted the offertory at the first Mass to search the barracks.

What's that supposed to mean? Mass means tolerance!

After all, we're prisoners of war. We lost the war,

let's not forget that!

If we keep provoking the Germans like this,

there'll be no Mass and no theater.

We'll work like everyone else.

I wouldn't like that.

"Red riding breeches".

I'm not saying there aren't good men among them,

but there are troublemakers too! That's for sure.

- What's this? - My lighter.

Wh... wh... What are you doing here?

- Hiding. - You...

- You're one of the "red riding breeches"? - Yes.

Y-you can't stay here.

- Why? - They could catch you.

It's very dangerous here! People are coming and going all the time!

- Know somewhere quieter? - I'm sure there are places.

And where?

I'd have to think. I can't come up with one just like that.

All right, when you do, tell me.

In the meantime, I have a monstrous appetite.

Do you mind?

Wonderful!

What are you standing there for?

You certainly have an appetite!

I haven't eaten sauerkraut in 3 years!

Your health!

You can't stay here, it's reckless!

- The theater troupe will be here soon. - So what?

They won't turn me in, will they?

No, of course they won't.

But the Sonderführer attends rehearsals every day.

- He doesn't come into this hole, does he? - Sometimes he does!

- He sticks his nose everywhere. - What do you want from me?

But think, if they find you here,

everyone will think I hid you here.

True enough, the way it looks is against you.

Well, I'll tell everyone you came here yourself.

Without asking me. The truth, in short.

Yeah, like they're going to believe you!