This Land Is Mine
Dir: Jean Renoir
1943
*****
A few films touched on the rise of fascism before the Second World War started (such as La Grande Illusion) and many a great anti-war film was made after the war had ended. There are also plenty of great war films that were made during the war, most of which were propaganda films requested by governments. The majority of these films focused on morale and comradery, for those fighting and for those at home suffering bombs, rationing, fear and worry. Then there were a few films that really got to the roots of the war and the crux of society. This Land Is Mine is one of those few films and I believe it should be regarded as one of the best war films ever made – a good war film being an anti-war film. The great Jean Renoir begins the film with a shot of a World War One monument with Nazi troopers entering the town (‘somewhere in Europe’) in the background. The First World War was of course known as the ‘War to end all Wars’ and the first scene already becomes more poignant and devastating then most films ever manage in their full run-time. Our protagonist is Albert (Charles Laughton), an unmarried schoolmaster living with his dominating mother. Albert is secretly in love with his neighbour and fellow teacher Louise (Maureen O'Hara) but hasn’t the confidence to tell her, besides, Louise is engaged to George (George Sanders), the head of the railway yard, who like many in the town believes that collaboration with the German occupation is the only logical course. Widely regarded as ineffectual, Albert is unable to control his class, is looked down upon (but isn’t disliked) and on one occasion embarrasses everybody by his panic during an Allied air raid. Louise’s brother Paul (Kent Smith), who works in the yard, befriends the German solders but is in fact an active resister and, trying to kill the German commandant Major von Keller, instead kills two German soldiers. After turning a blind eye to previous acts of resistance in the hope of preserving good relations, Major Erich von Keller (Walter Slezak) must now act and takes 10 hostages, saying they will be shot in a week if the guilty person is not found. Albert's mother, jealous of Louise, tells George that it was Paul. George tells von Keller and then, in a crisis of conscience, shoots himself. Albert bursts in a minute later, furious at discovering his mother's treachery, and is found with corpse and gun. Regarding it as a matter for the civilian courts, the Germans expect Albert to be condemned. When in his defense he starts an impassioned plea for resistance, the prosecutor requests an adjournment. That night, von Keller comes to his cell and offers a deal: If he will keep quiet next day, new forged evidence will acquit him. To emphasise the point, in the morning the 10 hostages are shot beneath his window, one of them being his friend and colleague Prof. Sorel (Philip Merivale) who he greatly admired. Back in court, Albert is all the more eloquent in the cause of liberty and the jurors proclaim him innocent. Freed and back in his schoolroom, with a proud Louise by his side, he reads to his pupils who all now stand as he enters the room. The courtroom speeches Albert gives are extraordinary but the talk he gives the boys is breathtaking. Time of of the essence as he addresses his class, “I'm afraid this is my last class. I don't know how much time I have. If this must be a short lesson, I think I've found the best book. It was given to me by Professor Sorel. The only reason it wasn't burned with the others is because I hid it away in my bedroom. I'm going to read you something that was written by great men. Written in a night of enthusiasm a long time ago. 150 years ago. These men came from all classes, rich people, poor people, businessmen, men of religion. And they didn't fight with each other. They all agreed on that wonderful night. Now, other men have tried to destroy this book. Maybe this copy will be burned. But, they can't burn it out of your memories. You'll have to rewrite it someday. That's why you young people are so important. You're the new nation! "A Declaration of the Rights of Man!" Article I - All men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Article II - The purpose of all political parties is the safeguarding of the natural and inalienable rights of man. These rights are liberty, property security, and resistance to tyranny. Article III - The principle of all government resides in the Nation itself. No group, no individual can exercise any authority that does not expressly emanate from the people. Article IV - Liberty consists in freedom to do all that does not harm others. Article V - The law has the right to forbid only..” Albert pauses as the German solders arrive for him. “Just one moment, gentlemen, please.” Albert asks before continuing, “The law has the right to forbid only those things that are harmful to society. Well, I must go. I must go, not because I'm harmful to society - which is you - but, I am harmful to tyranny.” It is a remarkable speech to end a remarkable film. While it felt far more mainstream than Renoir’s earlier film La Grande Illusion, it still hit all the same notes. The prime purpose of the film is propaganda, to strengthen Allied resolve in the fight against Nazism, but once more Renoir adopted a distinctively nuanced approach. The Germans, with von Keller an eloquent advocate of the advantages for Europe of Nazi rule, are not shown as mere brutes. Nor are the French shown as heroes battling tyranny. Instead, as in Renoir's previous films La Grande Illusion and La Règle du Jeu, class is shown to be more significant than race or nationality. The film blames the bourgeoisie, a few left-wing intellectuals excepted, for letting Hitler into power in 1933, for surrendering France in 1940 and for collaborating actively or passively. This stance was confirmed by Renoir shortly after the film came out when, in a speech, he asserted that his recent films "breathed this breath of anti-Fascism" and were rooted in the experience of the Popular Front of 1936, which was "a magnificent exposition of human brotherhood". It is for this reason that This Land Is Mine, as well as his other films, have stood the test of time and will always be relevant.