French politicians can’t get enough of ‘De Gaulle’

PARIS — Politics in France has rarely been more divisive, but presidential candidates of various political persuasions have finally found something they agree on: The new movie about Charles de Gaulle is a masterpiece. “De Gaulle,” a two-part, five-hour-long opus, has become an unexpected summer hit after a slow start at the box office. The film tells the lesser-known tale of the legendary general’s political maneuvering to maintain France’s sovereignty and fend off a domineering American president’s plans for Europe. “De Gaulle” is a movie for the moment, and not just because the comfort of dark, air-conditioned theaters offers refuge from heat waves scorching France this summer. The epic tale of a solitary, dogged patriot fighting to save his country from annihilation while standing up to an overbearing ally across the Atlantic captures the zeitgeist of French politics today. As France again faces questions about the future of its alliance with the United States, French people find themselves forced to choose between various leaders portraying themselves as national saviors ahead of the presidential election next year. So presidential hopefuls from across the political spectrum, including those from parties that view De Gaulle less favorably, are hailing the film’s portrayal of the wartime general’s brilliance in times of trouble — and, in thinly veiled casting attempts, trying to portray themselves as France’s next providential leader. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu last week said the movie’s success spoke to the French need of “meaning” and “perspectives” in a rare interview with glossy magazine Paris Match. Perhaps the most surprising endorsement came from anticapitalist firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whose party France Unbowed opposes conservative movements that have claimed to carry on De Gaulle’s legacy, despite the general himself equally despising all political parties. During his Bastille Day address in the western city of Paimpont, the left-wing leader, one of the top contenders in next year’s election, strongly encouraged his supporters to watch a “magnificent movie,” drawing parallels between De Gaulle’s uphill battle to build up the country’s free forces during the war and his own campaign. “I would like us to once again shake up the order of things,” he said right before invoking the movie. “This election is so dangerous that the stakes are incredibly high.” A political tale The De Gaulle movie’s originality lies in its focus on political battles rather than military ones, though it does feature a generous dose of epic fights led by rogue French officers. At the heart of it is the wartime general’s far-fetched political campaign to rally French officials, soldiers, diplomats and ordinary citizens who — initially in rather small numbers — refused to abide by the armistice with Nazi Germany struck by Marshal Philippe Pétain, then head of the French state, and De Gaulle’s parallel quest to secure support from British and American allies. Sébastien Lecornu leaves after the weekly Cabinet meeting at the Elysée Palace in Paris on July 22, 2026. | Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images “De Gaulle belongs to all French people, regardless of their political leanings,” said Eric Branca, an author who has written several books about De Gaulle. “Attempts to co-opt him demonstrate that he has become a mandatory point of reference for anyone who upholds — or wishes to be seen as upholding — a tradition of national and popular defense.” The wartime leader, who rebelled against the elected government that collaborated with the Nazis, has long been a revered figure in French politics, though more so on the right end of the political spectrum. Former Presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy both headed self-described Gaullist parties, and their most direct political heir, conservative leader Bruno Retailleau, was the first high-profile presidential candidate to publicly praise the “superb” ode to De Gaulle earlier this