1958: Those Who Said No

On October 4, 2018, France celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Fifth Republic. It is a republic born in the throes of the Algerian War and one which—from the day it was founded by General de Gaulle until the presidency of a very Jupiterian Emmanuel Macron—has been assailed as a “Republican monarchy” by partisans of a more assertive parliamentarian state. By revisiting the struggle of those who dared oppose the new regime — only to suffer a crushing defeat on September 28, 1958, when they were barely able to garner 20% of the vote against the constitutional text — this film shines a powerful new light on the origins of the Fifth Republic and its consequences for the next 60 years. It is a constitutional debate that planted the seeds for a complete upheaval of the French political landscape, on the left in particular, and set the country in motion toward what would be called the Union of the Left.

Cast

Philippe Saada

Philippe Saada

as Narrator (voice)

Pierre Pflimlin

Pierre Pflimlin

as Self (archive footage)

Raoul Salan

Raoul Salan

as Self (archive footage)

Jacques Massu

Jacques Massu

as Self (archive footage)

Pierre Joxe

Pierre Joxe

as Self

Jean-François Sirinelli

Jean-François Sirinelli

as Self

Charles de Gaulle

Charles de Gaulle

as Self (archive footage)

Pierre Mendès France

Pierre Mendès France

as Self (archive footage)

Charles Hernu

Charles Hernu

as Self (archive footage)

Édouard Daladier

Édouard Daladier

as Self (archive footage)

Reviews

Similar Movies