Un village français (2009–2017) User Reviews

One of the best TV series I've seen

[Munin75 · 9/10 · 27 March 2012]

"Un village français" is one of these rare TV series which suck you in through realistic plots mixing suspense, love, betrayal without being sensationalist, and staying simple (although the numerous love triangles are a little too much at times). French TV being filled with painfully mediocre, if not absolutely bad series, "Un village français" stands out as the best one out there, by far.

The realism of it is one of the factors which make it great. The actors are superb, their characters genuine, the women beautiful in a classy way (not tasteless bombshells), and the plots explore simple people's decisions during the hard circumstances of the Occupation, without ever openly judging their acts.

The series starts kind of slow. I'd say the first season is the weakest yet, even though it has the ultimate spectacular scenes when the German army takes control of the village. The series only gets better as the viewer is more familiar with each character, and follows their individual paths, their interactions, their fears and decisions. It takes its time. It doesn't rush into the events of the Occupation, and rather presents the slow evolution of French Collaboration as things get harsher and more fixed, and the characters ultimately need to find themselves and chose their definite side, or remain torn.

As said before, "Un village français" doesn't judge, staying remarkably neutral when possible, not opting for an easy manichean presentation of the Occupation. Many characters turned collaborators are not bad people and even try to do good, like the mayor of the village, or one young woman who has an affair with a German soldier. Even the young chief of police (Jean Marchetti) is likable. As I'm writing this, the series is only in its fourth season, so I can't wait to see how these characters will be treated in the last season which will presumably depict the Liberation. Hopefully, it will continue to show the harsh reality (I'm expecting head shavings, trials, public dishonor, executions, escapes and pardons... the characters are so diverse that each fates are possible).

A great TV series, which I highly recommend to those who have a chance to see it.

A truly remarkable series

[richard-1787 · 9/10 · 15 March 2016]

This is a truly remarkable, riveting, and even addictive TV series, certainly one of the best I have ever seen, regardless of language. (I'm 64. I've seen a lot of TV series.) What makes it remarkable? The acting is uniformly first-rate, the direction very good, the script even better than first-rate. Each episode holds you from the get-go, and many end with cliff-hangers that make you want to start the next episode. As I said, it is downright addicting.

Are there any flaws? I don't know that I would call them flaws, but I can see that those interested in the history of the Occupation in France could have several issues with the series.

1) A previous reviewer wrote that it is an "Excellent TV show explaining the life of ordinary people in Nazi occupied France." Not really true. The main French characters are almost all members of the haute bourgeoisie: a leading doctor, a factory manager, the chief of police, etc. They do not deal with the issues that friends of mine remember from the Occupation: the shortage of everything, starting with food and fuel to heat homes. For ordinary French people, the Occupation was four years of waiting in line every day for bare necessities, punctuated by an occasional dramatic event. That wouldn't make for good TV drama, though, so this series has made the dramatic more "common" than it evidently was in the life of the average French person. The episodes almost all focus on dramatic events. It makes for riveting viewing, certainly, but it gives a skewed view of daily life during the Occupation.

2) Much of the focus is on sex and marital infidelity, rather than issues specific to the Occupation. (It reminds me a lot of Zola's Germninal in that sense.) This holds audiences, certainly, but there is nothing particularly related to the Occupation here. Almost all the wives turn out to be unfaithful to their husbands. I'm not sure how a feminist would react to that, or indeed many French women, faithful to their husbands or boyfriends, who lived through the era.

3) The depiction of the Communist Party leaders is uniformly negative. Again, the focus seems to be very bourgeois, very much Gaulliste. I noticed, for example, that when others, even Gaullistes like Bériot, refer to the Communists as Bolsheviks, that just gets translated as Communist. There is, of course, a big difference there. It is very true that many non-Communists feared the Communist Resistance and feared that their goal was to lead France into another class war/revolution, but that was not in fact the goal of all the FTP/Communist resistants.

All that said, I repeat that this is a riveting series. You will not regret watching it - except that you may well become addicted to it.

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I have now watched through the end of Season 6, which is as far as the American distribution has gone as of January 2017. (Season 7 is announced for mid-February.) All I have to add to what I wrote above is that this series does a remarkable job of making all the lead characters, no matter what their political position, very human and very three-dimensional. No one is all bad, and virtually no one is all good. That becomes very problematic for me in the case of the Militiamen and some of the Germans, the SS and the Gestapo. I don't like feeling sympathy or compassion for individuals who have committed monstrous crimes, as some of these characters do. Nevertheless, I will concede that even someone who can shoot two little children in cold blood - that is a VERY difficult scene to watch - might also have human qualities. I don't like conceding that, but I will.

The end of episode 12 of Season 6 turned my blood cold. It focused on some of the worst events of the Liberation, and made it anything but a joyous event. I know, having interviewed people who lived in a small town in France at that time, that what is described did indeed take place across France. Some of it is even toned down, like the shearing of the women accused of collaboration with the Germans. Still, it is a particularly somber note on which to end the penultimate season.

Exceptional history lesson wrapped up in an fascinating soap opera

[JonathanWalford · 9/10 · 29 October 2017]

Un VIllage Francais is exceptional story telling that evolves the characters over the duration of the War and lets you get to really know them. The 'shades of grey' moral involvement of these characters shift from good to bad and back as they encounter each other and manoeuvre to get what they want, or do what needs to be done. Most are just trying to live their lives as best they can, but some need the war to feel alive, while others shift inexplicably in character - the most puzzling one being the mayor's wife who goes from dutiful, faithful wife to traitor without apparent reason.

The history behind this series is flawless - and not just the historical events, but also the costumes, sets, and details. If I had to find fault it would be that events are not always true to the season in which they are filmed. August 1944 episodes were mostly filmed in early spring, judging by the bare leafed trees.

The 1943 story-line is the weakest of the series, with too much of the story focused on new characters involved with the Resistance - to the point that most other story lines and characters are put on hold. The 1943 season finale is also the weakest, bordering on laughably melodramatic. However, other seasons and story lines make up for this momentary dip in quality.

Excellent TV show explaining the life of ordinary people in Nazi occupied France

[cochet · 10/10 · 14 March 2011]

This TV show describes the life of ordinary people in a small town of rural France during the German occupation in WWII. It is extremely well documented, cleverly written and very well played. The great plus of this series is that it meticulously analyzes the mechanisms which brought some people to collaborate with the Germans and others to resist, without judging, without falling into easy generalizations. The treatment of the small communist cell's actions is particularly spot on. I highly recommend this show to anyone interested in WWII, and anyone who wants to understand life during a war, and how good people can come to serve a fascist regime.

Extraordinary!!!

[rshapiro-199-762299 · 10/10 · 24 June 2019]

This is the Most extraordinary show I've ever seen in my 60 year life. The depth and evolution of the characters is flawless. The pain and guilt of the occupation is palpable and touched me in ways I never anticipated. While the show was wrenching at times to watch, I can't imagine a better rendition of such a painful and revelatory experience.

I can't recommend enough!

Postscript: Since finishing the series and writing this review, I've been searching for one word to describe the experience of Un Village Français....The word is haunting...

Beautiful handling of delicate subject matter

[MajorAndersLassen · 10/10 · 23 August 2015]

Un village français explores the intricacies and horrors of living under German occupation during WWII. The writers deal with the delicate issues of collaboration and resistance beautifully, without judgement or criticism, which made me think about how I may have behaved/reacted in the villagers situation.

The writers were very wise to make a TV series rather than a film or mini-series as it just wouldn't be possible to get a genuine feel for the occupation in a couple of hours. I recently watched Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter (2013) and found that 270 minutes was just not long enough to really understand the German experience of WWII, and left me with more questions.

It is so nice and refreshing to see a French spoken series about French people, instead of British series about French people! (e.g Maigret with Michael Gambon or Monsignor Renard with John Thaw). I really hope this series get the international acclaim it deserves! 10/10 from me.

Difficult but fantastic

[cecile_ch · 10/10 · 4 April 2014]

Fantastic series. It makes the war real, very concrete: not the battles, which we have seen before, but the struggles of ordinary people, trying to understand what's happening, and what that means for their convictions, their acts, who they are. They're slowly adjusting. We all ask ourselves what we would have done, but we forget about "time". Dealing with and understanding the occupation and atrocities took time. It's hard to understand now how people could be horrible, but it was hard then too. The war is hard, what happens to adults horrible. But, I have to say that the part about the Jewish children is unbearable, excruciating. This hits the limits of human understanding. As a mother, I couldn't go through it. Nobody could face this. We all know what happened, and can't accept it, but seeing this so real...

Brilliant and thoroughly entertaining

[prestonp94 · 10/10 · 1 February 2017]

This series is one of the best I've ever seen, the acting, the setting, and all of the historical details done so extremely well. It truly is a shame that this series does not have broader coverage here in the U.S., it would be an excellent choice for airing on HBO. The broad history behind this series is true, the experiences and brutal choices that have to be made by a population under occupation; and it makes one think "How would I cope under the same circumstances?" In watching each episode, I can't wait to see the next one. The cast of characters with different perspectives and story lines blends together flawlessly, and you end up caring about all of them. Truly well done.

Great Historical Series of What Happened to the "little people" in World War ll

[wildwesttrooper · 10/10 · 1 February 2019]

I wasn't sure about watching this series but I was really hooked by Episode 3 of the first season. However, a couple of my favorite French stars, Thierry Godard and Audrey Fleurot, drew me to the series. It was well worth it. I just completed the last season and have since purchased the entire series. I have never done that before.

The story behind the citizens of the town is intriguing all through their lives and to the final episodes as I watched them decline in health and appearance. It is a fascinating story of the Occupation and how the war affected these citizens of an obscure French village. Viewers were introduced to the harsh reality of war in France if you watched "Band of Brothers" but this shows the sorrow, death and troubling decisions citizens had to make as the war and occupation moved on.

I recommend this to all viewers. Yes, it takes a lot of time to watch it but it is worth it.

Enjoyed part of it

[donlemna-36278 · 7/10 · 11 November 2019]

I hugely enjoyed the first five seasons, but I stopped there because it seemed to be getting a bit too soapy for me.

A Time of Collaboration and Resistance

[grimalkin-2 · 10/10 · 22 October 2017]

Having watched all 65 episodes (seven seasons), I'm overwhelmed by how the scriptwriters not only confronted French viewers with all the gray areas involving their parents or grandparents' collaboration with the Nazis during the time of the Vichy government but also created such complex characters that we sometimes find ourselves booing and hissing the alleged "good guys" and cheering some characters who have behaved in an abominable fashion. But then, the "good guys" can turn out to be more evil than we supposed, and some "bad guys" can readily accept responsibility for all their actions, no matter how monstrous. Some of the most corrupt characters are also the most pragmatic survivors.

Those who stick with the series until the end had better get their hankies ready for the final, completely heart-wrenching two episodes.

The actors are uniformly exceptional in this ensemble cast of hundreds. Most of all, I will never forget Nicolas Gob as Jean Marchetti, a French cop who obeys every command involving the rounding up of Jews or Communists for execution and deportation until he falls for a Jewish woman, Rita (Axel Maricq). But by then, he has acquired the nickname, "Butcher of Villeneuve."

Then there are Robin Renucci and Audrey Fleurot as Dr. Daniel and Hortense Larcher. Dr. Larcher finds himself unwillingly thrust into the position of town mayor whose scruples are compromised one by one until he finds himself compiling death lists with another official, Servier (Cyril Couton), to quench the Nazi thirst for blood in retaliation for Resistance violence done to them, an action that will later have dire repercussions for both men. As for Hortense Larcher, she finds herself attracted to a Nazi leader, Heinrich Muller (Richard Sammel) and is ready to forgive his every sadistic cruelty.

Then there's Lucienne (Marie Kremer), a schoolteacher who falls for a handsome German soldier, Kurt (Samuel Theis) but when he's about to be transferred to the Russian front and she finds herself pregnant, she agrees to marry the headmaster, Bériot (François Loriquet), who is willing to adopt her child as his own.

Finally, there are the major Resistance fighters: Larcher's brother, Marcel (Fabrizio Rongione) and his mistress, Suzanne (Constance Dollé); and Marie (Nade Dieu), a farmer's wife, who is involved with the married owner of a sawmill, Raymond Schwartz (Thierry Godard), who initially is apolitical and gladly sells his product to the Nazis, but ultimately joins the Resistance. Then there's the young Resistance fighter Antoine (Martin Loizillon), who shamefully is forced to leave four buddies behind to be slaughtered by Nazi troops. Finally, there is Schwartz's wife, Jeannine (Emmanuelle Bach) who is determined to survive and prosper, no matter who rules the country.

For me, this is the finest, most engrossing series I've seen since the Spanish "Gran Hotel."

Some great moments mixed with overly soapy melodrama

[bloopville · 7/10 · 25 January 2021]

The overarching themes are universal and compelling. What do you do when an occupying force compels behavior with threats to you and your loved ones? How do you maintain civilized humanity when you are dehumanized every day? Many episodes of these themes are well handled.

However, as the show progresses, it often bogs down into romances that we don't care about, actions that are incomprehensible, given previous behavior and the constant use of coincidence.

Characters from the past always show up at the exact moment to further a plot line. There is a lot of nick o' time savings and telegraphed plot occurrences.

At least the characters don't have plot armor. The good guys miss and the bad guys hit, so that trope isn't used.

But, characters make bad decisions that every watcher knows is a bad decision. And, it almost seems that the writers want to fulfill the stereotype that l'amour is more important than actually accomplishing anything, as almost every character makes a bad decision and compromises their beliefs in love stories for which there is no on-screen chemistry.

There is some fine acting and good writing in spots and when the show hits, it hits hard, but there is a lot of reliance on plot tropes and coincidence. The 1944 season is particularly guilty of long uninteresting melodramatic sequences.

For Fans of Melodrama and Soaps Only

[mwarren87-64-239736 · 3/10 · 19 November 2019]

Yes, the topic is inherently interesting and the production values, in general, are first rate, but despite my normal Francophilia when it comes to French movies and TV, this one is soapy beyond redemption. Clearly, lots of the world's TV production is geared to an audience that stays glued to the latest soap (real world or on the screen), but if you're not in that demographic, it's unlikely you'll be able to tolerate this series for very long.

An Amazing Feat of Television

[briancseel · 10/10 · 29 June 2022]

It always sounds really good to take a big, historical event and tell the story through the lens of a handful (or in this case a couple of dozen) characters. It is much harder to execute and more often than not the execution disappoints.

This is the exception. Un Village Francais is a masterful telling of the history of WWII France through the lens of a small village. Those who know their history know that France had a unique history during WWII as they neither remained fully free nor were they entirely occupied by the Nazis.

The show explores all of those dynamics, the naivete of the early German occupation (a reaction that makes sense in the context of a continent whose entire history is built around countries constantly coveting the land of others and seemingly constant wars), the problems that came with the full-on German occupation and the series even lasted long enough to explore the important and timeless themes raised in a post-war France.

The cast is top-notch, the drama is constant and the character arcs over the 7 seasons are almost unbelievable. As war would transform anybody, these characters by the end are almost unrecognizable from how they began.

It is one of the greatest television shows of all time.

It's so much more

[screenwriter-972-149612 · 10/10 · 8 May 2021]

Un village français is a seven season revelation. Though it appears to be a story about people, it's really an allegorical tale about a nation. Each character represents a segment of the population that either lived through or was directly affected by the German occupation of France from 1940 through 1944. The hapless, the hopeless, the connivers, the accommodators, the victims and even those who embraced the NAZI ideology are all here in human form. As their story unfolds we learn...in vary nuanced lessons...that huge forces that rip away all that moors society and each of us to each other can't be summed up in a phrase or a song. That there's devastation, pain, denial, guilt and even redemption awaiting all of us when evil becomes authority. Other reviewers will tell you the story. But in truth Un village français is much more. And so well done that it might be the best thing ever to appear on the small screen. Watch it.

Outstanding

[12345abcdef · 10/10 · 5 March 2021]

To the person Noushin Dowlatshahi, who gave 2 stars and wrote a very bizarre review. This is a pretty accurate story about what may have happened in many villages in France during the german occupation. This isn't a romanticized version where you think that some people like Kurt should have lived on, that the bad guy like Marchetti should or even could have been stopped under the Vichy Government and that the monstrous person like Müller should have been executed instead of escaping and continue to live as an informant for the US. I am french and this is a very possible scenario of France under the german occupation. You, Noushin Dowlatshahi, need to read about the Holocaust, the Final Solution, the Gestapo, the Resistance, the Collaboration under the Vichy Government, and what was France and the people of France under the Vichy Government. You, Noushin Dowlatshahi, wrote such garbage, I don't think you are the kind of person that should watch anything about WW2. My review: OUTSTANDING tv serie, a MUST watch.

Addicting

[dkossett · 10/10 · 1 September 2018]

I am midway into the 4th season. I have never binged a series until this one. Just excellent!

Tremendous show.

[robert_raeburn · 10/10 · 7 November 2021]

It's in my top ten best television series list. Great characters, deep philosophical questions, and just perfectly done. I'd recommend it to anyone with halfway decent taste. The evil SS officer is a villain for the ages.

Bravo- perfectly crafted!

[McBethie · 10/10 · 12 May 2022]

This is the most stunning show I've ever seen. Beautifully written, acted and directed, it never failed to be touching, enlightening, devastating, insightful or eye-opening. I watched the whole series over 3 weeks (thanks, Covid!!) and ugly cried at the end of it like never before after a show. I knew many of the actors from other loved French shows, but feel all of them brought such depth to these characters, and truly performed at the peak of their craft. As much as you expect to loathe some characters, the humanity brought to each of them truly caused me to see the truth of this period of history with a much more empathetic and softened heart. I was especially moved by conversations between Heinrich and Gustave, which made my 52-year old self realize no matter how well-educated, learned or informed I may be about WWII and the following years, truly comprehending what the people of France lived and felt during this time isn't something I will ever experience. The true gift of this show is how beautifully human, wholly fallible, and imperfect the writers, directors and actors crafted these characters to be which led to a much more sympathetic and empathetic response from the viewer.

One of the best WWII Dramas ever

[dctrainer · 10/10 · 1 August 2023]

France has long had a complicated relationship with its own history. Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" was long banned in France for its portrayal of the corrupt, out of touch and cruel generalship during the Great War. From the moment of Paris' Liberation General DeGaulle went to great lengths to create the "Myth of Resistance": that the majority of French men and women had resisted the German occupation in some way from 1940 onward. In fact barely 1% of the population actively fought against the occupiers. Even worse, large sections of French society actively assisted the Nazi occupiers in rounding up and deporting Jews, hunting down socialists, communists and other 'anti-nationalists'. Even well after the Normandy invasion and the clear prospect of Allied victory, collaboration continued unabated with the resistance fighters aiding the Allies being the main target. As James Holland's "Normandy '44" reveals, French collaborators gleefully informed on neighbors and even relatives fighting for the Allies. How do you achieve reconciliation after the war under such conditions? This series explores all those complications in great detail. The DVD version contains illuminating historical commentary from french historians and surviving eyewitnesses that that should not be missed.

One of the best series of all time...

[darrenkaminsky · 10/10 · 13 August 2023]

A French Village is a slow burn. The first two seasons have a lot of set-up and world building before they add the layers of the later seasons.

Like other masterpiece level shows, e.g. The Wire, it shows every aspect of it's story. You see every situation through the eyes of rich, poor, teacher, postal worker, and shopkeeper, police officer, criminal, collaborator, resister, communist, anti-communist, Gaullist, and enthusiastic Vichy-ists.

You see both deep heroism and deep hypocrisy. And no character is fully good or fully evil as the show adds layer after layer.

One truly outstanding storytelling feature is the way that main characters will become side characters, side characters will become main characters, someone with a cameo in one season might play a main role in a later season, like life.

Also like The Wire, some seasons will have have season long sub-plots to illuminate some aspect of life under Vichy. So as not to spoil the story, I won't name any of these, but they're all presented with care and feel organic to the story.

And don't judge anyone too quickly, they'll surprise you, often while staying perfectly within character.

Word of warning, you won't understand the show by watching one episode or even two, or even the first season. It's only once you reach later seasons that you understand what they did in earlier seasons.

It's an investment to watch, but so so worth it.

Possibly the best series ever made about military occupation in time of war.

[buckgw · 10/10 · 17 September 2022]

This is an incredibly powerful and well acted series about a village in occupied France during World War II. Bravery, cowardice, and the moral choices that people are faced with every single day. You can't help but ask yourself how you would react in the same circumstances. There are eighty four episodes, and each one is a nail biter. The production design, costumes and photography are spot on - you feel that you are in that place and time. We watched this series four years ago, and are rewatching it. It is just as riveting the second time. Definitely one of the best TV series ever made! Ten out of Ten!

Best WWII show

[brana_dragan · 10/10 · 20 January 2021]

I'm a huge fan of world war two films and series, can honestly say that this one is the best. Acting is great, cast phenomenal, I was glued to it since first episode, feel so sad that's it over. It's a must see

So much of this is good, and then so much isn't

[Laight · 9/10 · 28 September 2021]

On the one hand, the first three seasons of this show are possibly among the best programs ever aired. Told with a cold, intelligent eye, without pretense and without judgment, the program examines the life of a town in France when the Nazis take over. No one is all good, no one is all bad, and the dialog, the action, the plot -- everything seems perfect. The show feels like what television at its best was meant to do: entertain, inform, educate, teach, amaze, astound.

Unfortunately, in the fourth season the show loses its steam. The characters start becoming caricatures rather than people, just pawns that move the plot forward rather than seem real; the dialog becomes oddly maudlin and unrealistic; the show falls apart. The next three seasons are something of a slog to get through, and yet it's hard to turn away because those first three years were so excellent.

The other issue is the acting. Most of the actors are superb, above all the ones who play Larcher and Marchetti, the two most interesting characters in the show. There are scores of other excellent performances as well. But the actors who play Suzanne and Antoine aren't nearly as good, particularly Suzanne, who acts as though every line she utters is an emotional breakthrough that can only be understood with more emotion than exists within the entire rest of the program.

One odd note: the producers made an interesting choice re pets. At this time in France most people would have had a dog, or several dogs, as well as cats. Yet nowhere in the show (except one small scene) do we see any domestic animals. Nazis were known to have either simply killed dogs, especially when they were threatening, or left the dogs, and cats, to die. The show's decision must have been that as horrific as some of the scenes are with children, viewers wouldn't have been able to watch pets be killed. So they simply took them out of the story. Says something about our society today.

Still, despite its flaws and its failure to retain its momentum, this is a remarkable show that does more to explain human nature in times of war than any other in a long time.

Well acted, emotional, and educational, tous aux même temps

[brwalsh-07044 · 10/10 · 3 June 2021]

In the US, we flutter our hearts over such Anglophile series such as The Queen, Downton Abbey, etc. And often overlook epic story telling from other cultures. This story is an epic one, taking us through the various sub-periods of the German occupation of France, especially in Vichy. Each episode took on a subject, such as collaboration, or the deportation of Jews, or the black market, or the resistance, etc. And illuminated it via the impact on and dilemmas it presented to the inhabitants of this little French village. It was engrossing and the acting was formidable. I can't believe I missed this series until now. Highly recommend, and the best of French cinema that I have seen.