Dealing with the past

A new French movie Femmes de l'Ombre provides the 'hook' for this post.

May 1944. A five-woman commando unit parachutes into occupied France on a daring and dangerous mission to protect the secret of the D-Day Landings and eliminate colonel Heindrich, the head of German counter-intelligence (Moritz Bleibtreu). Louise (Sophie Marceau) is a trained sniper and the widow of a Resistance leader. Jeanne (Julie Depardieu) is a tough hooker who won’t hesitate to kill. Suzy (Marie Gillain) is a stunning former showgirl and Heindrich’s one-time lover. Gaelle (Deborah Francois) is a young and brilliant explosives expert desperate to see some action. Maria (Maya Sansa) is an Italian contessa undercover with the French Resistance.

Two of the photos at the top of this post are stills from the movie making. But the third is a snapshot taken at the time of the Occupation, which I happened upon a few weeks ago.

And today, blogger's luck, I found the image embedded left of the text. In Paris many of the underground stations are being comprehensively renovated. This often involves the removal of curtain walls which were simply erected in front of the original facades of the stations. Remarkable is the fact that on some of the original walls there remain fragments of posters which were not removed during the refurbishing. The poster in question warns the German troops occupying Paris to avoid Feindagenten, or enemy agents.

It seems to me that this would be a good title for the movie when it comes to Germany.