Les honneurs de la guerre

A small village in France.Tired German soldiers are here.They know they have lost the war and they are waiting to surrender as the Americans are getting closer.But near the village ,there are the resistant fighters:their country has been humiliated for four years and they need a revenge.

Jean-Claude Tacchella ,who wrote the script and would become a director -whereas Jean Dewever's career was short-lived (he mainly worked for TV)- uses the two languages ,German and French,which gives credibility to his story.

German soldiers are disheartened and they sometimes rebel against their non-coms.One of them goes as far as saying "should you order me not to believe in God anymore ,I would not!" The French are not shown in a flattering light.It seems that some of them are "new " resistant fighters who ,unlike the true ones,have waited that danger becomes minimal .The long scene of the wedding banquet,complete with songs including the perennial "On N'A Pas Tous les jours Vingt Ans" ,and where some of them have grotesque romantic affairs did not please the censorship:the movie was released in July 1962,after the Evian agreement for a narrow audience.It was a far cry from "Le Père Tranquille" "La Chatte" or "Babette S'En Va -T-En Guerre " ,all those efforts which glorify the country.

Actually those people having a wild time are dancing on a volcano.The smallest thing might spark off the incident.

Jean Dewever did not show the last pictures ,except for a dog killed by a stray bullet.The Honors of war?The horrors of war,more like!