Bella Ciao! Program 2 – The consequences of war

June 6 at dawn
Jean Grémillon. France, 1946. 54′

A film invisible for over seventy years: the bitter truth about the destruction of Normandy caused by the Allied landings.

In late August 1944, Jean Grémillon went to Normandy: he filmed several survivors of the civilian population and the ruins caused by the fighting. He edited the material, using news archives, writing the music and recording his own commentary. He wanted to tell the story of the effects of the Allied landings and the Battle of Normandy, hoping that the French public would discover the suffering suffered by this particularly devastated region.

Jean Grémillon (1901-1959) musician, composer and filmmaker, is today considered one of the most important directors in the history of French cinema. A secluded auteur and politically engaged intellectual, he has been rediscovered by critics only in recent years.

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Let there be light
John Huston. United States of America, 1946. 58′

A mythical film, censored by the U.S. military: the long ordeal and painful return to life of soldiers traumatized by war.

This groundbreaking, and long unseen, film about the effects of war on veterans was one of the first to address the subject of post-traumatic stress disorder, shot at Mason General Hospital in Brentwood, Long Island, at the end of World War II. The great director John Huston decided to make it after he himself suffered from post-traumatic syndrome during the Italian campaign, where he fought and also made a film.

John Huston (1906-1987) was the hero of his own fictional universe: a rebellious creator, an unrepentant seducer, a great drinker, a passionate artist, an unparalleled storyteller and an American soldier. His few documentaries are as exciting as his fictional films.