Unlike Hollywood and the UK who were turning out war-themed films throughout the six years of conflict and kept right on doing so after hostilities ceased French cinema got into the game in the last quarter. As an Occupied nation from 1940 to 1944 they were, of course, unable to produce and films reflecting the national climate and with the exception of La Bataille du Rail in 1946 and for perhaps obvious reasons, it took them more or less a quarter of a century to portray the Resistance on film with the best, Melville's L'Armee des Ombres, weighing in around 1970. That makes La Bataille du rail all the more interesting if not, indeed, valuable for being shot within weeks of the end of the war and using real railway employees, many of whom had been active in French Resistance, rather than professional actors. Debut director Rene Clement, who went on to become one of the most honoured filmmakers in terms of Prizes won, opts for a documentary feel rather than Hollywood-type heroics and his understated style is ideal for the tale he is telling. A decent print would be useful but it remains a keynote in French cinema.
Review of The Battle of the Rails
