2023-07-03 09:34:25
His photograph, with felt and scarf, is in everyone’s memory, but what do we really know about Jean Moulin, who has become the symbol of the Resistance since his entry into the Pantheon in 1964? Romain Weber, collaborator of “A particular history” (France Culture) and “Sensitive Affairs” (France Inter), reveals “the man behind the legend” in a documentary in five parts, nourished by the interventions of historians and political figures such as Robert Badinter, the writer Pierre Assouline, the director Jean-Marie Besset…
This “great journey” does not open on Jean Moulin’s childhood but on his Premier combat (1): in 1940, then prefect of Eure-et-Loir, he struggled to help the population and stood up to the Germans to save the honor of unjustly accused Senegalese skirmishers. His writings, read by Charles Berling, and excerpts from the TV movie directed by Yves Boisset in 2002, bring this chaotic era to life with great dramatic power.
A vibrant portrait
After this very successful introduction, the documentary story takes up the chronological thread and tries to identify a multi-faceted personality. With small strokes, the black and white cliché takes on color: the dandy, the press cartoonist with schoolboy humour, the fan of winter sports and racing cars appear as a palimpsest behind the austere image of the authoritarian senior civil servant, the valiant resistant and the strategist capable of uniting the different movements of the Resistance.
By giving him back his lightness and his vulnerability, this documentary series humanizes the hero, without lapsing into hagiography. It does not evade the questions that are still debated – why did he try to commit suicide in 1940? Did he collaborate with the Vichy government before his dismissal? – to paint a lively and vibrant portrait, with a classic but effective production.
#solve #Jean #Moulin #mystery