A Certain Idea of de Gaulle

Charles de Gaulle was France’s president when I was born, but by the time I was paying attention to affaires internationales he was long gone, and apart from seeing his image on old stamps I never knew much about him. Since moving to Britain, I’ve flown into and out of the airport named for him, which seems to be the only time most people here think of de Gaulle nowadays, other than remembering him as the man who opposed the UK’s entry into the EEC. When I heard on social media a few days ago that a film had been made about his wartime exploits, and apparently an outstanding one, my curiosity was piqued. I’ve been catching up on some classic World War II movies lately, and figured this could be worth seeing on the big screen; so I looked up when it was showing. At my local cineplex, it wasn’t, but the arthouse cinema nearby had it. But there was a hitch: the film is actually two, a first part that arrived last month and a second that was the one now in UK cinemas. I thought for a…