''Line of Demarcation'' is a 1966 war drama film written and directed by

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

. Its title in French is ''La Ligne de démarcation''. It is based on upon the memoir ''Mémoires d'un agent secret de la France libre et La Ligne de démarcation'' by

Gilbert Renault Gilbert Renault (6 August 1904 – 29 July 1984), known by the nom de guerre Colonel Rémy, was a notable French secret agent active during the Second World War and was known under various pseudonyms such as ''Raymond'', ''Jean-Luc'', ''Morin'', '' ...

under his pseudonym Colonel Rémy.

Plot

A small village in the Jura is split by the river

Loue The Loue () is a river of eastern France, a left tributary of the Doubs, which it joins downstream of Dole. It is long. Its source is a karst spring in the Jura mountains near Ouhans, which at least partly receives its water from the Doubs. Th ...

, which in that area constitutes the

line of demarcation The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian west of ...

between

occupied France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

and the free zone. The Nazis step up their activity against the resistance, insisting that any who attempt to cross the line of demarcation will be shot. An aristocratic French officer, Pierre ( Ronet), is released by Nazi soldiers to find his chateau converted into a German command centre, and having to live in the hunting lodge. Pierre is resigned to France having lost the war and has relatively cordial relations with the German governor, a fellow aristocrat. But his British-born wife Mary (

Seberg ''Seberg'' is a 2019 political thriller film directed by Benedict Andrews, from a screenplay by Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse based on the life of Jean Seberg. It stars Kristen Stewart, Jack O'Connell, Margaret Qualley, Zazie Beetz, Antho ...

) supports the

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

and is willing to risk her life for it. At an early scene, she is seen arranging the successful escape of downed Allied airmen, across occupied France and thence to Spain and Gibraltar. Meanwhile, a crooked smuggler is operating in the town, asking huge sums from a Jewish family to get them across the river but in fact leads them to the Nazis and steals all their possessions. In retribution the crook is killed by a member of the Resistance. Gradually, the plot comes to focus on two British spies hidden in the forest, collecting military information and broadcasting it to London. They are discovered by the Germans and one is wounded and captured. Should he be interrogated and reveal all he knows, local networks would be compromised and destroyed. At the hospital a doctor, member of the Resistance, tries to stall the Germans - but two energetic Gestapo agents push for the interrogation to begin. Resistance men, dressed in German uniforms, pretend to raid the hospital and remove the wounded spy before the real Germans could arrive. The furious Gestapo men, hunting for the hidden spy, threaten to arrest and torture the doctor's wife - whereupon the doctor commits suicide. An informer tells the Germans where the spy is hidden, tended by Pierre's wife the Countess - but before the Gestapo gets there, the spy was removed elsewhere. Still, the Germans arrest Many though they have no evidenced against her - but being British and an aristocrat, she would be interned, not tortured. Meanwhile the Resistance gets the village Priest to cooperate in a plot to smuggle the wounded spy to the other side of the river inside the coffin of a recently deceased 97-year old woman. The cortege nearly makes it to the other side of the bridge when the two Gestapo agents suspect the ruse and demand to stop and open the coffin - whereupon the hitherto skeptic Pierre pulls a pistol and shoots the two Gestapo agents to death, being immediately killed himself by the German soldiers. In the final scene the villagers, gathered around Pierre's body, defy the Germans by singing the French anthem,

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. It was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by the First French Republic against Austria, and was originally titled "". The French Na ...

. When they get to the verse about "The tyranny has raised against us its blood-soaked banner" the camera zooms to the Nazi

Swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

flag flying over occupied France.

Principal cast

Production

The film was shot in

Dole, Jura Dole (, sometimes pronounced ) is a commune in the eastern French department of Jura, of which it is a subprefecture (''sous-préfecture''). History Dole was the capital of Franche-Comté until Louis XIV conquered the region; he shifted t ...

Plot

Principal cast

Production

Availability

References

External links

See Also