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Young Audience Program at FIAF La Grande Vadrouille Dear Teachers, Welcome to the Florence Gould Hall at the French Institute Alliance Française! We are happy to present La Grande Vadrouille a film by as our December Young Audience Program at FIAF. We made this study guide to help you introduce your students to the film they are about to watch. From the cultural as well as from the social point of view, it is our goal to make this moment unique and enjoyable for all. BASIC RULES OF THE GOOD AUDIENCE MEMBER We expect the students to behave correctly. We kindly ask you to ask them: Thursday December 7Th, 2005 at 10:30am Florence Gould Hall at FIAF 55 East 59th Street, New York, NY (212)355.6100 (646)388.6688 -NOT TO talk or whisper during the film -NOT TO move from their seat -NOT TO chew gum, eat or drink in the theater -NOT TO wear headphones Please let us know about your comments after the event. We will be happy to improve thanks to your feedback, and of course, proud to hear your praise! (At [email protected]) 1 SYNOPSIS THE CAST During World War II… When their combat aircraft is shot down by the Germans, three English airmen parachute to the comparative safety of Nazi occupied France. One of them lands on the scaffold of an amiable painter and decorator, Augustin. Another lands on top of a concert hall and is rescued by the irascible but patriotic conductor Stanislas Lefort. The third one ends up in the otter enclosure in a Parisian zoo. When they try to help the airmen keep a rendez-vous at the Turkish baths in Paris, Augustin and Stanislas quickly find that they themselves have become targets for the German soldiers. Assisted by the daughter of a puppeteer and an anti-German nun, the two unwilling heroes accompany the three airman on a reckless trek across France towards the neutral zone and safety. La Grande Vadrouille was directed by Gérard Oury; Written by Marcel Jullian, Gérard Oury, and Danièle Thompson; Cinematography by André Domage and Alain Douarinou; Editing by Albert Jurgenson. Color. 1966, 132 minutes. Augustin BOUVET Stanislas LEFORT Sir REGINALD Peter CUNNINGHAM Alan MAC INTOSH Juliette Mme Germaine Sœur Marie-Odile Major Achbach BOURVIL LOUIS DE FUNES TERRY THOMAS CLAUDIO BROOK MIKE MARSHALL MARIE DUBOIS COLETTE BROSSET ANDREA PARISY BENNO STERZENBACH 2 FRANCE DURING WORLD WAR II French resistance could claim its origin externally in Charles de Gaulle's Appeal of June 18 (1940) on the BBC where he proclaimed that the war was not over. Maréchal Philippe Pétain had already signed the armistice treaty and the formation of “Vichy France” government had begun. World War II (1939- 1945) was the largest and deadliest war in human history. The conflict began on September 1, 1939 with the German invasion of Poland and lasted until the summer of 1945, involving many of the world's countries. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan and the Allies: France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. The war was in many respects a continuation, after an uneasy 20-year hiatus, of the disputes left unsettled by World War I. World War II resulted in the direct or indirect death of anywhere from 50 to 60 million people, over 3% of the world population at that time. Jean Moulin Occupation and demarcation line: In France, the war ended officially in June 1940, when Maréchal Pétain signed an armistice with Hitler and accepted the occupation of a part of the French territory by the German army. The demarcation line was the border of occupied France, which divided North and South France. The country was therefore reorganized: -the North was occupied by the German, -the South was the free zone lead by Pétain's Government. This line went from the Spanish border to the Swiss border and was 1,200 miles long. During the occupation and in spite of the official end of the conflict, many people in France continued the combats by enrolling in the Resistance. Indeed, Resistance during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means like guerrilla warfare, sabotage, propaganda, disinformation, hiding refugees and aiding the allies (like helping stranded pilots). De Gaulle also became a de facto leader of Free France. Internally the Resistance began in the Alpilles and Vaucluse areas in Provence. But Resistance was not necessarily organized; many civilians shocked by the atrocity of War became real heroes, like the characters in the film. Jean Moulin (June 20, 1899–July 8, 1943) was a high-profile member of the French Resistance during World War II. He is remembered today as an emblem of the Resistance. D-Day and liberation of Paris: On "D-Day" (June 6 1944) the western Allies invaded Normandy in an assault spearheaded by American, British and Canadian paratroops, opening the "second front" against Germany. The most powerful German force in France, the Seventh Army, was almost completely destroyed. Allied forces stationed in Italy invaded the south of France on August and linked up with forces from Normandy. The clandestine French Resistance in Paris rose against the Germans on August 19, and a French division under General Jacques Leclerc, pressing forward from Normandy, received the surrender of the German forces there and liberated Paris on August 25. 3 BOURVIL AND DE FUNES. A major factor in the film’s success in France was the top billing of Bourvil and Louis de Funès, at the time the two most popular comic actors in France. The two comedians had previously appeared two years earlier in another film, Le Corniaud, which was also a staggering box office success in France. The combination of two quite different comic styles works so brilliantly that you wonder why film producers took so long to get round to pairing the two actors. Despite its strong comic slant, La Grande vadrouille is actually a creditable war film which gallops along at a fair pace, bolstered by some breathtaking action scenes. few disaster victims whose houses were destroyed during bombings. At this occasion, settling of scores are going to show the real personality of a people. Papy fait de la résistance, by Jean-Marie Poiré. In 1943, the Bourdelle family is delocated by Germans, and has to relocate in the basement of their own house. The son, Guy Hubert, hide behind the apparence of a feminine hairdresser, is actually a « Super Resistent ». As the well-known Zorro, he plots against the nazis. Trivia: Louis de Funès was intended to play a role in this movie but he died before filming commenced. A dedication was given to him at the beginning of the movie: "To Louis de Funès...". Louis De Funès and his acting technique Louis de Funès is known by his proper style of acting. He is impossible to imitate, because he is his own caricature. His style is based on an exaggerated rapid delivery, fast changes of the expression of his face, and quick but very precise body’s movements. He was even compared with Donald Duck! The speed of Louis de Funès can be higher than a toon! OTHERS COMEDIES BASED ON THE THEME OF WORLD WAR II Uranus, by Claude Berry. In 1945, in France, a few months after the end of the war, peace is coming back in a little city of the countryside. A family hosts a 4