French Communique

The overall purpose of French Communiqué is to bring home to a British public the extent to which the French army is ready, prepared and able to defend France and, ultimately, Britain itself should the need arise. However, the overall tone of the film is neither bombastic nor jingoistic, and, when any jingoistic or over-solemn note appears in the film, Cavalcanti usually seeks to undercut it in one way or another. Such sedition is, for example, apparent in the section of the voiceover commentary in which the narrator, Leo Genn, talks up the power of the French guns on the Maginot Line. As images of the immense guns are shown, emphasising the power and magnitude of the weaponry, the voiceover becomes increasingly highly strung, declaiming: "Keep back, Fritz!", "Stay away, Otto!", in a somewhat manic manner.