Renoir and the Vichy Syndrome: "This Land is Mine, Carola" and "Le Caporal épinglé"

This article discusses three works by Renoir which deal explicitly with the Second World War. The film This Land is Mine (1943) was made during the war primarily for an American audience. Whilst protesting against the German Occupation of France, it also paints a partially critical picture of French actions. Two later works, the play Carola (1957) and the film Le Caporal épinglé (1962), are equally ambiguous in their depiction of French behaviour and attitudes. At a time when, according to the historian Henry Rousso's analysis of the "Vichy syndrome," the French were repressing memories of disturbing aspects of the war, Renoir goes against the grain by showing the French in an unflattering light. Moreover, in criticizing the French during the Second World War these later works can also be seen as engaging in contemporary debates about the painful process of decolonization, in particular in relation to the Algerian War of Independence.