Overview
- The second and final instalment of Antonin Baudry’s diptych, La Bataille de Gaulle – J’écris ton nom, reached French cinemas for the Fête du cinéma on Friday 26 June, with some outlets reporting a wider release on 3 July.
- Simon Abkarian stars as Charles de Gaulle in a film that traces his actions from early 1943 to November 1944 across London, North Africa and liberated France.
- Critics note the film prioritizes political maneuvering between de Gaulle, General Giraud, Churchill and Roosevelt over frontline combat, framing the story as high‑stakes diplomatic and strategic contestation.
- The production is presented as one of the year’s most expensive French films, officially around €74–75 million, and uses large‑scale set pieces, archival images and cultural references to give the project a monumental, poetic tone.
- Early reviews praise lead and supporting performances, especially Abkarian and Niels Schneider, while also calling the film spectacular yet sometimes ceremonious, and Pathé’s early opening is positioned as a bid to boost audience interest in the diptych.