A year before the French election, De Gaulle remains politically fashionable

Article excerpt

A sprawling new two-part biopic on Charles de Gaulle hits French cinemas June 3rd, arriving at a peculiar cultural moment. Director Antonin Baudry spent six years and nearly 80 million euros crafting 'De Gaulle: Resistance,' which chronicles the general's leadership of the Free French Forces against Nazi Germany and Vichy France. The film's release comes just a year before France's next presidential election, a timing that reflects something larger: De Gaulle's ideas about national independence, state power, and French grandeur have become strikingly fashionable again among politicians across the spectrum.