French director Emmanuel Marre has spoken about his approach to making Notre salut, a film set in Vichy France, according to Le Monde.fr. In an interview published Saturday, Marre said the goal was not to rebuild the past or to make it feel contemporary, but to place the audience in the present moment of the story itself.
The film examines France under the Vichy regime, and coverage describes it as an unvarnished look at that period, according to Orange Actualités. Les Inrocks characterizes Notre salut as the trajectory of a model collaborator, suggesting the narrative follows a character who cooperates with the occupying authorities.
In a separate interview with Vogue France, Marre said intimacy is what resists any dogma. Le Point groups the film with other recent releases, including Les Rayons et les ombres, as works in which cinema confronts the ambiguities of the Occupation.
The interviews and reviews, published across French outlets, indicate that Marre's film is being received as part of a broader cinematic reckoning with a contested chapter of French history. Marre's remarks point to a deliberate choice to avoid both period reconstruction and modern parallels, focusing instead on the lived moment of the characters.
Further reviews and audience response will show how that approach lands with viewers as Notre salut continues its run.