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De Gaulle: Tilting Iron (La Bataille de Gaulle : L'Âge de fer)

De Gaulle: Tilting Iron (La Bataille de Gaulle : L'Âge de fer)

Movie · 2025 · 15 people

A French-Belgian biographical film from 2026, De Gaulle: Tilting Iron (La Bataille de Gaulle : L'Âge de fer) comes from director Antonin Baudry. It is the first part of the two-film La Bataille de Gaulle diptych on Charles de Gaulle. At 159 minutes, it is adapted from historian Julian T. Jackson's book De Gaulle : une certaine idée de la France, co-written by Baudry and Bérénice Vila, and produced by Pathé. The second part, J'écris ton nom, was released on June 26, 2026.

The story opens in June 1940: France collapses and signs an armistice. A little-known general refuses to give in and flees to London with no army and no backing, only an unreasonable-seeming belief that France has not laid down its arms. With his biggest gamble, de Gaulle tries to persuade the world that the battle is neither over nor lost. Reality seems set against him, yet resistance fighters, rebellious students and soldiers in Britain, France and Africa join the cause. It covers 1940-42.

Simon Abkarian plays de Gaulle and Simon Russell Beale plays Churchill, with Benoît Magimel as Koenig and Florian Lesieur as Fernand. The two films together run from May 1940 to the liberation of Paris.

DirectorAntonin Baudry
Production companyPathé

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Cast

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Grégoire Colin Grégoire Colin Film actor · 51 years old D'Argenlieu Simon Apkaryan Simon Russell Beale Florian Lesieur Benoît Magimel Loïc Corbery Anamaria Vartolomei Niels Schneider Karim Leklou Tom Mison Kacey Mottet-Klein Pablo Cobo Campbell Scott Mathieu Kassovitz Félix Kysyl

Also in the cast: Simon Abkarian (Gaulle)

Through different eyes

AI-assisted editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives. They are not reader reviews; those are below.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The film tells France's 1940 collapse and armistice through the stubborn resistance a general with no army and no backing launches from London. What stands out is that the story doesn't stop at one hero's will but takes in resistance fighters, rebellious students and soldiers from Britain to Africa, bringing forward the idea that resistance belonged to a scattered society rather than one man. Being based on Julian Jackson's history book promises a documentary solidity. One should stay alert to the biopic's habit of mythologising great leaders; while Charles de Gaulle's resolve is celebrated, the complicated effects of defeat on society may slip into the background.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

As the first half of a two-part historical epic, De Gaulle: Tilting Iron takes a large structural risk: it has to end without finishing its story. Antonin Baudry and Bérénice Vila condense Julian Jackson's sweeping biography around one man's impossible gamble, building a dramatic spine; that's a smart choice that makes political history easier to follow. For a film of this length, though, keeping the rhythm alive against the risk of repetitive diplomatic persuasion scenes in London is critical. The encounters between Simon Abkarian's de Gaulle and Simon Russell Beale's Churchill are where the writing will be tested most clearly. An ambitious production that can only be judged whole once the second part is in.

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

1940, a collapsing France and a general who refuses to surrender: big stakes, a war backdrop. But this is a story of persuasion and strategy, fought at the table rather than at the front. Long talks and diplomatic bargaining may test anyone expecting front-line action, and it isn't short either. The political tension is solid; front-line combat is simply not its concern.

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