Having read Julian Jackson’s absolutely astonishing biography of Charles de Gaulle, I was excited to know that two feature-length films based on the book had been produced in France.

Now the films have been released in the U.K., and Peter Hitchens reviews them for Compact magazine. He was thrilled with them, and based on his previous commentary on films such as Never Look Away and Ida, I’m quite sure I will share his enthusiasm.

The two films, which are really one, make his defiant awkwardness very plain. The first, De Gaulle: Liberté, and the second, De Gaulle: Résistance, both show us the General outplaying Churchill and Roosevelt in the three-dimensional chess of wartime diplomacy. He is also seen neatly derailing his American-backed rival, Henri Giraud, who never realizes what has hit him. In a few brief moments we notice that he........

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