One Man’s War

Synopsis: One man’s view of the Second World War. Uses documentary material in a different way: instead of a commentator reading an ‘authoritative’ account of events over newsreel footage, Cozarinsky uses as his commentary the private journals of Ernst Jünger, the German writer who was also military commandant of Paris during World War 2. The newsreels are those produced by Vichy France, extolling the normality of life under German occupation, how everything continues as before despite troubling shortages: the stars attend theatre previews, and Parisian fashion continues to lead the world. Jünger’s diary meanwhile recounts his individual reaction to events, that of an honest but blinkered elitist, whose idea of the ‘knighthood of soldiery’ is gradually shattered as the war takes its course and he learns of the German atrocities and the concentration camps.
Language: English
Country: Germany
Medium: Film; Film. 16mm. sd. b&w. 106 min.
Technical information: Black-and-white / Sound
Year of production: 1981
Availability: Hire
Subjects: History
Keywords: France; Jünger, Ernst; Vichy France; World War II

Director

Edgardo Cozarinsky

Producer

Jean-Marc Henchoz

Writer

Edgardo Cozarinsky

Contributor

Alain Dahan; Christine Aya; Véronique Auricoste

Cast

Niels Arestrup

Name: Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA)
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Notes: Independent film and video distributor with an emphasis on foreign language titles. Sale on DVD via retail outlets.

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