De Gaulle 2020

Paris, June 1940. The country is pressed to the edge of collapse as the Battle of France sweeps across the land. Charles de Gaulle, Lambert Wilson, a resolute brigadier general, stands at the center of a widening rift in French leadership, while Yvonne de Gaulle, Isabelle Carr, holds the family together at home with their three children: Elisabeth, Lucie Rouxel; Philippe, Félix Back; and Anne, Clémence Hittin. The war’s pressure reshapes every room of their lives, forcing hard choices and quiet sacrifices as the nation’s fate hangs in the balance.

In the government, Paul Reynaud, Olivier Gourmet, appoints de Gaulle as Defence Minister, a move that instantly inflames a cabinet already wary of his bold stance. Le Maréchal Pétain, Philippe Laudenbach, and General Maxime Weygand, Alain Lenglet, meet de Gaulle with a mix of skepticism and political calculation, while Geoffroy Chaudron de Courcel, Pierre Hancisse, counsels caution. The atmosphere in Paris is charged, and the question of France’s future leadership grows only more urgent as the Germans tighten the noose around the capital.

With doubt festering at home, de Gaulle wastes no time seeking allies abroad. He travels to Britain to meet the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, Tim Hudson, to push for the evacuation of French forces to North Africa and to drum up support for a more defiant French posture. The journey is perilous and controversial, but it marks a turning point: Reynaud, Pétain, and Weygand begin to reassess de Gaulle after his talks in London. Along the way, he also engages with Anglo-French war councils, where he encounters General Edward Spears, Andrew Bicknell, and gains insight from the ongoing coordination with Britain.

The political and military drama intensifies as de Gaulle participates in the Anglo-French Supreme War Council meetings on 11 June, meeting Churchill and Spears once more, while the discussions on strategy broaden to include figures like the Earl of Halifax a couple of days later. In Paris, internal dissent remains, and the Interior Minister Georges Mandel, Gilles Cohen, urges caution and insists that de Gaulle stay in the fight rather than withdraw. A dramatic escape from French North Africa with Spears and Jean Laurent, Laurent Stocker, heightens the pressure on the German authorities, who become increasingly suspicious of the French leadership’s plans.

Back in Britain, the tension culminates in a dramatic shift: de Gaulle lands in the United Kingdom and heads straight for Churchill, who proposes a bold path forward. On 17 June, he is invited to work with BBC Radio, a move that amplifies his message to the French people. The following day, he delivers a defining appeal, urging the French not to lose heart and to keep fighting the German invaders. The war’s emotional toll continues to ripple through the country as families separate and relocate, with Yvonne and the children leaving Colombey-les-Deux-Églises as Germany presses deeper into France.

By 25 June 1940, de Gaulle has emerged as a unifying voice for resistance, stepping into the role of leader of the Free French and laying the groundwork for his later presidency. The film traces a decisive arc—from a divided cabinet and a hesitant government to a steadfast call to defiance that would redefine France’s fate. Throughout, the story remains grounded in the personal courage of a couple torn between duty and family, and in the broader struggle to preserve France’s sovereignty in the darkest days of the war.