Uranus

a film by Claude Berri

from a novel by Marcel Aymé

Historical and political context

The Second World War 1939-1945

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Since the Germans beat the French in 3 months, the war is known in France as the "la Guerre 39-40" (39-40 war). The whole French army was defeated and all French soldiers sent to camps in Germany. France was politically divided in 2 :

• "La France occupée"= (Occupied France): the Northern half of France including Paris was officially occupied by the Germans.
• "La France Libre"=(Free France) which covered the Southern half of France, from the Loire Valley to the Mediterranean sea. To replaced the formerly elected French socialist government, "theVichy government" was chosen by the Germans. It was headed by an 80 years old veteran, "the maréchal Pétain", and an infamous Prime Minister, "Laval", known for his active participation into the holocaust of the French Jews. Every elected mayor and town council in France were replaced by a "délégation spéciale" (special delegation) of people chosen by the Vichy Goverment. France had become a Fascist state.

 

While France was under German occupation, the French were a divided people: Some followed the leader, Maréchal Pétain, whose Vichy government collaborated with the Nazis. They are known as the "pétainistes" or the "maréchalistes. They were mostly Catholics, conservative and anti-Communists. Others joined the Résistance and claimed Général De Gaulle as their leader. They were the young men who refused to obey Hitler's orders to go and work in Germany. Most of them took to the woods where they lived a clandestine life. They were hunted down by the Germans who often executed them on the spot with machine guns. They were known as "the maquis". An important part of the resistance, consisted of French railroad workers -the PLM- (Paris-Lyon-Marseilles) who were in majority Communists. Most French people swore no specific allegiance, they just tried to survive. 1) They had welcomed the idea of a cease fire in 1939, and were not particularly sympathetic to the British who went on fighting. They hated the communists who from 1942 on (after Staline broke his pact with Hitler) were active in the Resistance. Many people viewed the blowing up of trains and bridges as terrorist acts, and were angered by the British and American bombing of cities.   2) All Catholics were anti-Communists, and so were most people of the French midle class. They saw Hitler as the only force capable of stopping the Russians.   3) Most French people nearly starved during 5 years, and every body was finally more preoccupied by their search for food, than by the ideology of their government's leaders. Therefor, after the Liberation it was difficult to ascertain which side one's neighbor had been on and in villages where the communists had assumed power, sniffing out Nazi collaborator, was foremost on the agenda.

• WHERE does the story told in the film take place?

The film takes place in a generic small town in the French provinces. Most buildings have been destroyed by American bombs, who had fallen over France in 1944-45. Survivors of the bombings are forced to share the remaining habitations. Families of completely different social backgrounds are forced to co-habitate. Such promiscuity generates class conflicts and violence.

 

• WHEN does it take place?

The story takes place in 1945. The war is over. Paris and France have been liberated by American troops along with two French generals, Leclerc and De Gaulle. While the people who had been fighting the Nazis "the Résistants" were celebrating, "the Collaborateurs", who helped the Germans were executed. The majority of the people was very unconfortable because without being pro-nazi, they were anti communists, and had rallied behind their old "Verdun" heros, General Petain who had offered them a sappy form of nationalism. as a consolation for having lost the war. These French people were above all

 

 

In every French community, an atmosphere of terrorism prevails. Those who were in charge during the German occupation, are now accused of "collaboration" and punished as traitors. They are imprisoned, tortured and condemned to death. Women who were known to have made love to German soldiers were beaten and publically humiliated (their heads were shaven). Everybody was scared and afraid of being suspected of having shown sympathy to the Vichy goverment and reported as an anti-communist. In fact, the great mass of French people, although they did not necessarily support the ideology of the Fascists, had been favorable to the "Vichy Regime".

From 1939 to 1944, they had been terrorized by "the Guestapo"(German police) as well as "the miliciens" (French fascists militia), and now they were equally terrorized by the Communists and the "revanchards" (those who wanted to get even)

 

1936- 1939: "Popular Front"= Socialist + Communists in Government	Mendès France, a representant of socialist ideology: "L'internationale des travailleurs"
1940-45: Vichy Government = nationalism+ catholicism	Pétain, a man with the highest grade in the army. Nationalism:"travail, famille, patrie"
1945-47: Socialists + Communists + "Resistants" in Government	De Gaulle: anti-communist and anti socialist will be seen as a compromise between the threatening left and the guilty right.