De Gaulle’s Battle Part 2: Unpacking the Title “I Write Your Name”!

Both parts of The Battle of Gaulle have subtitles. The first is called The Iron Age, and the second, I Write Your Name. Where do these titles come from? Let us explain!

For Part 2, it is a tribute to a famous poem by Paul Eluard, titled Freedom, written in 1942. In the film The Battle of Gaulle Part 2, one can distinctly hear Paul Eluard’s voice reading this poem over archival footage.

“I Write Your Name” references a poem by Paul Eluard

This poem repeatedly uses the phrase “I write your name”.

Here is a brief excerpt:

“On my school notebooks

On my desk and the trees

On the sand on the snow

I write your name

On all the pages read

On all the blank pages

Stone blood paper or ash

I write your name

On the golden images

On the soldiers’ weapons

On the crown of kings

I write your name”

This poem, which became a veritable anthem of resistance and freedom during World War II, was initially published clandestinely as a love poem before being dedicated to freedom. “I initially intended to reveal at the end the name of the woman I loved, to whom this poem was dedicated. But I quickly realized that the only word that came to mind was ‘Freedom.’ Thus, the woman I loved embodied a desire greater than herself. I confused her with my most sublime aspiration, and this word Freedom was itself in my entire poem only to perpetuate a very simple, very daily, very focused will, that of freeing ourselves from the Occupier,” explained Paul Éluard at the time.

Why “The Iron Age” for Part 1?

For Part 1, director Antonin Baudry chose the subtitle The Iron Age. In the press kit, he explains: “The Battle of Gaulle, because it is both the struggle of one man but also of a people and a country. The Iron Age: in mythology, humanity knew a Golden Age, where men lived happily and without suffering, which was followed by the Iron Age, dominated by injustice, corruption, lies, and betrayal.

In the Middle Ages, any knight worth his salt attempted to bring back the Golden Age, by protecting the weak and oppressed and restoring justice. Free France is a chivalry of modern times, and this title seems to faithfully transcribe what the characters in the film could feel facing the occupation, the collaboration, and the horrors of the war.

The story of The Battle of Gaulle begins in June 1940. France collapses and signs the armistice. Amidst the chaos, an unknown general refuses to give in. Alone against all, he escapes to London to save what remains of a dream: freedom. Without an army, without support, without hope. But with a mad conviction: France, his France, has not laid down its arms. He attempts one last gamble: to convince the world that the battle for France is neither finished nor lost. Reality stubbornly proves him wrong. But gradually, around him in England, France, and Africa, shadowy resisters, rebellious students, and determined soldiers rise. Their faith, their audacity, their rage for freedom challenge the History that seemed already written.

Both films are currently showing in theaters.

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