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Belgium Robbe de Hert's film "Gaston's War" is based on the true story of a Belgian resistance fighter. The Fleming Gaston Vandermeerssche is able to escape from the hands of the German secret service. He then becomes head of a secret resistance group organized by the British which is supposed to prepare the landing of the Allies in the Netherlands. In de Hert's version the Résistance is left in the lurch by the British. In the film the surviving underground fighters are showered with honours, but nobody wants to hear their story. Their missions in the service of the British are supposed to be kept secret, and so they are suddenly no longer able to prove their assignment. The betrayal of the British comes out when Gaston seeks out his former German tormentor in the prison. At this point the film departs from the Belgian master narrative of the good Allies who helped Belgians to victor and freedom. |
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The poster for "Gaston's War" calls the film a "story of courage and betrayal". It shows the Belgian Résistance, embodied in the person of Gaston in prison. The swastika flag and the Union Jack suggest the forces Gaston has to thank for his fate – the English just as much as the Germans. |
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