Resistancialism revisited: masculinity and national identity in Claude Berri’s Lucie Aubrac (1997)

This article focuses on the relationship between masculinity and national identity in Lucie Aubrac. It argues that, despite the narrative's ostensible focus on the exploits of Lucie Aubrac, both Lucie's actions and the Resistance activities undertaken by women in France in general during the Occupation are marginalised in Claude Berri's film, which instead privileges a mise-en-spectacle of male heroism. Such features are, it is argued, characteristic of French heritage and ‘resistancialist’ films, and it is within this framework of nostalgia that Berri's film needs to be seen.