Having been preparing for a long time to get together all seven seasons of A French Village from Santa Cruz Libraries, Paul and I are now finally over the hump, and marching towards the finish line.
A French Village (2009-2017) is a TV series directed by Philippe Triboit and Oliver Guignard. It is a story about the German invasion of a small fictitious French village in Jura in June 1940, and it’s immediate and long term aftermath. To be honest, it is no small feat to go through a total of 72 episodes. It is not only because of its length, but mainly because of its heavy subject matter: the loss of freedom, purge of Jewish people from all walks of life, traditional families falling apart, as their wives or mothers were fascinated either by their German captors and collaborators, or by revolutionary movement.
What strikes one are the numerous insufferable atrocities: waves of village hostages executed as a result of the rigid communist quota to kill German enemies in each city, brutal reprisals for Jew harboring, the November 11 Parade by the Resistance, emotional revenge on their comrade's family massacre, lives lost over the unnecessary destruction of the village bridge, and repeated premature celebrations of "final liberation" which only result in more bloodshed.
I am equally puzzled over the casual attitude towards unnecessary arrests of Resistance heroes, such as Marcel Larcher who was betrayed by his lover's incriminating farewell letter posted on a table at Chez Georges which was frequently by the police. Another casualty is Marie Germain who seems to be the calmest and most level-headed of all leaders. But for a split second, she loses her vigilance, and is captured while watching her team members strolling on the bridge that is never managed to be destroyed. As fate has it, she might have a chance of survival, when the Germans turn her over to the French police. But for some reason, she just cannot stop her verbal personal attack on police head Jean Marchetti who happens to be condemned as "Cannot be saved" by the Resistance group in a prior negotiation, and she is summarily executed.
In the show, almost everyone appears to suffer from a short memory: Daniel Larcher forgives his wife Hortense numerous times, so does Suzanne's husband Gerald. Suzanne is emotional and unreliable, with warning messages from the Revolution leaders from the very beginning, but she is still hanging around, proposing ill-conceived vehicle attacks for supplies, voting for wrong actions, and taking up with a much younger boyfriend after sending Marcel to death row. Apparently, the French Resistance forces are poles apart from their German occupiers as far as document management is concerned.
What makes the show go on is its ill-disguised mockery and superb ensemble performance by actors such as Robin Renucci (Daniel Larcher), Audrey Fleurot (Hortense Larcher), Thierry Godard (Raymond Schwartz), Richard Sammel (Heinrich Muller), Marie Kremer (Lucienne), and Nicolas Gob (Jean Marchetti). They succeed in portraying a grim reality when one's country is invaded, through the microscope of a small village, which has seemed to turn into a nightmare cruise ship during the outbreak of Covid-19.
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