The Eye of Vichy

In this 1993 documentary, Claude Chabrol, one of France's most gifted feature film directors, uses the simple expedient of stringing together excerpts from propaganda films and newsreels produced by the collaborationist regime in France between 1940 and 1944 to show how Henri Petain, a hero of World War I, seized power after the French surrender, dismantled the Republic, and established a crypto-fascist state supportive of Hitler's interests. While all of the material is fascinating--including footage of a pathetic German attempt to curry favor by returning the pilfered body of Napoleon, statistics on goods produced by French workers for the Nazi war effort, revelations about the government's complicity in the Final Solution, and excerpts from Petain's Christmas addresses--perhaps the most astonishing piece is a crude cartoon from late in the war depicting American planes bombing France as piloted by Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Popeye. Providing a rare glimpse into a regime unfamiliar to most viewers, while serving up a textbook illustration of propaganda techniques, The Eye of Vichy (featuring occasional English narration read by actor Brian Cox) is pretty much extra-less (a so-called photographic tour of the Third Reich presents 10 general photos), but those who don't already own this on VHS will want to add. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)