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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris

‘We swept a lot under the carpet’: Vichy regime film hits home in France of 2026

A film still shows a crowd in vintage 1940s-style clothing applauding, with French flags waving behind them
A still from Notre Salut, which is poised to become a box office hit. Photograph: Kidam & Michigan Films

It is the story of how a lowly state administrator unthinkingly becomes a cog in the machine of an authoritarian regime, embracing the bureaucracy and logistics of sending people to their deaths – and it is drawing in audiences to French cinemas.

The French film Notre Salut (Our Salvation), with its modern lighting, improvised scenes and anachronistic 1980s Europop soundtrack, is far from the standard historical costume drama about the second world war.

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