Product Details

• Actors: Michel Bouquet, Brian Cox, Charles Huntziger, Pierre Laval, Erwin Rommel
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: First Run Features
• VHS Release Date: November 16, 1999
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304028512
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,109 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"The Eye of Vichy" is a brilliantly chosen compilation of long forgotten film footage and newsreels produced by the Nazis and French collaborators during World War Two. From the small town of Vichy in central France, Field Marshall Petain's puppet government worked with their nazi overlords in creating pro-Nazi propaganda. Seeking to turn the tide of public emotion against both the Allied Forces and the Jews, they skillfully produced a strange alternative history of the war years that is shocking and grimly fascinating. French New Wave founder Claude Chabrol creates a masterful look at Nazis and media manipulation that is as engrossing as any of his thrillers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was there, June 23, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Eye of Vichy [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I was only 7 years old when the Germans occupied my city in 1940, but I remember many of the events depicted in this documentary. This film is great, especially for those interested in the history of France during the war years, and a reminder of what it was like for those who were there.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars German and its French ally's propaganda against the Allies, January 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Eye of Vichy [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I saw this film for extra credit for a college French class. It was wonderful to see so much old news footage and speeches from the 1940s in Europe. It was interesting to see how successfully the Nazis and their French collaborators (some of the French) manipulated their own peoples into thinking a unified Europe under Germany was the only answer. That is all this film is: a collection of newsreels and speeches given by both French and Germans with an English subtitle. Yet it is a wonderfully put together 'documentary'.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insight into fascist politics., July 26, 2004

By 

D. Diebel (Fair Oaks, Ca. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Eye of Vichy (DVD)

Anyone interested in the history and development of fascist and national socialism should watch this film. It presents various aspects of the fascist ideology on class, culture, "nation," and of course shows the prevasive anti-Semitism, anti-Bolshevism and racism of fascism.
The Vichy fascists used anti-communism and anti-Semitism to play upon the fears of its middle class supporters in order to consolidate its position. It viewed its nation-selling to the Germans as a "holy war" against Jews, America and communism.
Also presented in this film is the politics of the radical right-wing fascist politician Jacques Doriot, the role of the French LVF "volunteers" in the axis front lines against the Red Army, and the campaigns encouraging youth to "volunteer" to work in the Nazis munitions factories. The patriotic partisans are portrayed as traitorous "terrorists" against the conservative Vichy government.