''The Eye of Vichy'' (french: "L'Œil de Vichy") is a 1993
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
documentary film directed by
Claude Chabrol
Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...
. It consists of a selection in chronological order of authentic footage, mostly newsreels and documentaries, shown on cinema screens in France between 1940 and 1944. Intertitles or a narrator occasionally add linking or supplementary information. The bulk of the material was produced under the
Vichy régime and the aim of the film is to show the worldview which the collaborationist government of
Pétain promoted to its population.
Themes
The main messages conveyed by this Vichy propaganda were:
*That the elderly Pétain was a father to his people, incarnating the true France and heading its legitimate government. The unnamed
de Gaulle was therefore a traitor and his pretensions to lead an alternative government false.
*That the destiny of France lay in co-operation with the
German occupiers to build a new Europe which excluded Britain and the USA to the west and the USSR to the east.
*That
collaboration
Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...
with
Nazi Germany included supplying workers of both sexes to its factories and sending soldiers to fight communism on the
Eastern Front.
*That the
German armed forces were France's protectors against the Western
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
, who only brought destruction by bombing and invasion. Coverage of Anglo-American attacks emphasised the civilians killed and dwellings demolished.
*That after resounding victories at
El Alamein
El Alamein ( ar, العلمين, translit=al-ʿAlamayn, lit=the two flags, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. , it had ...
and
Stalingrad
Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...
, the invincible German forces made strategic withdrawals from North Africa and Russia.
*That those who
actively resisted the security forces of Vichy and the German occupiers were terrorists to be exterminated and that for every German killed innocent hostages would be shot.
*That
Jews were aliens and enemies, to be rounded up and deported. Their
grim fate
Grim may refer to:
People
* Grim (surname)
* Myron Grim Natwick (1890–1990), American artist, animator and film director best known for drawing Betty Boop
Mythical or fictional characters
* Grim, Old Norse ''Grímr'', from the Norse saga '' Gr ...
once transported east was not explained.
Critical reception
From
Vincent Canby of ''
The New York Times'':
From ''
TV Guide'':
See also
*
Vichy France
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eye of Vichy
1993 films
1993 documentary films
Documentary films about the Holocaust
Films directed by Claude Chabrol
Documentary films about Vichy France
French documentary films
Documentary films about films
Films about propaganda
1990s French films