Monsieur Paul (2016) - full transcript

are pure fiction.

L'Aurore
Will France Claim Him?

Ex-Nazi Klaus Barbie
has just found refuge in Peru

after a long stay in Bolivia.

Did you read the papers,
Monseigneur?

It would be terrible
if he came back.

MISTER PAUL

- Hello.
- Hello, Marianne.

- Hi, everybody.
- Hi.

Jourdan, when was Barbie
sentenced to death?

In 1954.
But there's still no prescription.



Are we sure that Altmann is him?

He looks like him, anyways.

Franck, come on.

You're leaving for Lyon.

He was the head of the Gestapo.
He certainly left some traces.

What's the reaction of
the Jewish societies and resistants?

Nathan, I know you're close
to the Klarsfelds.

Can you check if Beate is 100 % sure
of the information she got?

It might be a bluff.

It's solid stuff.

They're in contact
with an expert in anthropometry.

Vistel Publishing House

- Hello.
- Hello.

Alban Vistel.
Colonel Alban, in the Resistance.



We were all part of the secret army.

It was hard to find you.

It was one of our hideouts.

Walking through the cellars,
we can meet up the Saône.

Thanks for meeting me.

Saw the photo of Altmann?

It's Barbie.
I saw him from close.

His face stayed engraved in here.

He's still living? Shit.
I thought I'd outlived him.

Henri Jeanblanc.

Now, he's the counsellor
of a dictator.

Bastards die hard.

France must demand his extradition.

Everybody must know
1,400 men, women and children

were his victims
at the Montluc prison.

I hope he'll be taken back there
and that he'll snuff it there.

We have nothing to gain
in a trial.

Barbie will try
to soil the Resistance.

He'll grass up some people.

We won't know if it's right.

It will cause havoc.

You're talking about
Moulin's arrest?

The media should cover the trial.

That will shut the negationists up.

It's the opportunity to say the truth
on all that happened.

So we must talk about the Milice,

those French who collaborated
with the Gestapo.

Or we'll only have
half of the truth.

I've not forgotten
the tasks in the woods.

Tell me about that.

I was at the head of St-Étienne

when Angèle, my wife and I
were arrested.

We were taken back to Lyon.

On and off, on Touvier's orders,

the militiamen let a prisoner out,

and the next day
we'd find his body in the woods,

unrecognisable, tortured to death.

- Who was Touvier?
- He commanded the Milice.

What became of these members
after the Liberation?

Many were executed.

And Touvier?

He was condemned to death
in absentia.

We think he was killed earlier,
in 1944,

with other members
were trying to escape by swimming.

They were shot by machine guns.

They didn't find all the bodies.

Only the uniforms
on the banks of the Rhône.

- What time is it?
- 2 o'clock.

I have to leave at 5.

I have to be at the court at 8.

A teacher who aborted
and claims it loud.

300 of them have signed.

I mustn't mess up on this case.

And you in Lyon?

War, informing...
It's still a sore spot.

Isn't it too dangerous?

No idea.

Ampère High school Annex
Lyon

It's in this part of the school

that the militiamen
had set up their quarters.

They piled up the furniture,
the pianos, the paintings

and the jewels
stolen from the Jews.

I was part of the prisoners

appointed to do the shifting.

There was all sorts.

A real Ali-Baba's cave.

The men were locked up
on this floor.

We women
were on the second floor.

The interrogation room was here.

And what was Touvier like?

Always polite.

He just ordered Gonnet
to do the dirty jobs.

I went through a serious operation,
a few years ago.

When I came up from the theatre,
there was a priest in my room.

I got a choc.

I thought he'd come
for the last sacrament.

It was Father Duquaire,
the secretary of Cardinal Villot.

He was there for Touvier, supposedly
unfairly condemned to death.

I had to plead in his favor,
because he'd released me in 1944.

Because he'd saved my life,
in a way.

I had the nurse throw him out.

It's Vautherin, who pretended to be
the chaplain of the Milice,

who helped Angèle and I escape.

Father Duquaire harassed me too.

He'd prepared a speech about Touvier

saying he'd always been
sympathetic to the prisoners.

All I needed was to sign.

Henri was in hospital.

I was anxious.

He took advantage.

But last year,

when the inspector
investigating Touvier asked me...

Angèle, which inspector?

Inspector Delarue.

He wanted to draw up
Touvier's responsibilities.

I told him I had heard the screams

of those being tortured
in the interrogation room.

Touvier's office was there.

Excuse-me.

Hello.

I went there twice.

A well organised office,
with files for his forms.

Because that bastard
had a form for each one.

How come Delarue
took over this case

after so long?

It makes no sense.

Touvier probably wants to
come back to France,

now that there's prescription
to his death penalty.

He's wanting to be discharged.

Didn't he drown?

He's alive.
You can be sure of that.

Museum of Resistance and Deportation

There was an office there,
with Jewish works,

located 12 rue Sainte-Catherine.

It was the biggest raid
ordered by Barbie.

Women, children, old people
went there for treatment.

And it was also a network

to get false papers.

Paul Touvier,
what do you know about him?

Touvier?

He lived in the flat
of a Jewish family

and he drove a car
stolen from a Jew,

and he systematically robbed
and extorted

Jewish salespeople.

He'd give us up
to the Gestapo for money.

Haven't you ever heard
of the treasure of the Milice?

It wasn't only for the money.
It was pure anti-Semitic.

The militiamen were anti-Semitists.

They had fun throwing a grenade
in a synagogue

on people praying...

For the fun of it.

On whose orders? Touvier's?

Touvier, Bourmont,
Lécussan or Gonnet.

It's all the same.

I'd like to meet someone
who witnessed the attack.

Hello.

Does Yaël Klein live here?

Yaël!

Yes?

I'm a journalist.
I'd like to meet your sister, Léna.

The synagogue attack,
quai Tilsitt, in 1943.

That's old. Léna knows nothing.

She's forgotten.
She can't help you.

She can't have forgotten this.
No way.

Please leave my wife alone.

I understand,
but it's very important.

Tell her to call me
on this number.

She surely saw
the one who threw the grenade.

She could recognise him.

It's important.
I must talk to your sister.

Tell me where I could find her.

Come on, enough.
Get the hell out of here!

Ask her if these names ring a bell:
Touvier or Mr Paul!

Go and open.

My key's not going in.
You got the locks changed?

Remember
that this is my place, too.

It was my room.
It could make a child's room.

There can't be any children
in this house!

They'd invite friends
and people would come.

You're not in danger.

- There's no room for you, Maurice.
- Then buy my share.

Don't you know about Barbie?

Take us to a monastery tonight,
in case there's trouble.

Do it yourself. I've done enough.

That, my boy,
is not going to help you much.

- Go on, shoot.
- Stop it, Maurice.

Think I'm afraid of him?

I'm not afraid of you, Paul.
You disgust me.

Get lost!

Paul... give that to me.

I can't take it anymore.

I can't go on living hidden.

You're going to take me tonight.

We have no choice.

That's enough, now. You drive.

Abbey of La Grande Chartreuse

What's happening?

My brother
refused to drive us here,

and he threatened me with a gun
for no reason.

He's gone mad.

The past is catching up on me.

After all the years

I struggled to redeem myself

by living in pain and prayers,

people will link my name
to Barbie's.

But I swear, Dom André,
that I've never met him.

I've never had to deal with him.

I believe you.

I can testify your abnegation
and your righteousness.

What would become of me
if it wasn't for you.

I feel... abandoned by all.

Even by God, sometimes.

We have to leave,

condemned to live like pariahs...

In our own home.

"Mrs Giraud, wife of the notary,
first name unknown,

"adulterous woman,

"met a brown-haired man,
height: 1,78 m, younger than her

"on 20 January."

Hello. The secretary
of Monseigneur Villot, please.

His Excellency
resides at the Vatican.

But his secretary has stayed in Lyon.

Mgr Duquaire
has no official function.

He's in charge of the flat
of His Excellency in Rome.

You mean he's his servant?

He's his butler.

I think he's on holiday in France.

How can I contact him?

I can't give you his number.

But you can leave a message.

He can call me in Paris:
359.36.06.

I'll be there tomorrow.

Tell him I'd like to have
some news of Paul.

They're in touch.

Alright.

I'm not leaving for Bolivia.

I thought you wanted
to interview Barbie.

- What's up your sleeve?
- A Frenchman.

Paul Touvier.

The former chief of
the Milice intelligence in Lyon.

A piece of dirt.

He was sentenced in absentia
for war crimes in 46-47.

People said he was shot down.

But last year,
he was under investigation.

Why investigate a dead man?

He managed to escape court
thanks to the Church.

I want to find
witnesses to his crimes.

I want him to show himself.

OK. I'll give you
till the end of the week.

After that,
you're leaving for La Paz.

Delarue, a former resistant,
worker at the Renault factories,

before becoming a great cop
at the crime squad head office.

He was in charge of clearing
the occupation legacy.

He even published many books
on the topic.

Thank you.

We must win this trial on abortion.

We must manage to touch
public opinion.

I don't know what to do.

You've got abortionist doctors?

They're scared
of being drummed out.

I know of some
who'd take the risk.

I can give you
the names if you like.

This Touvier,
how will you find him?

I'm counting on Delarue.

I hope he'll call me back.

If not, there's the priest sent by
the supposedly cardinal Villot.

He minimises Touvier's role.
He surely knows his hide-out.

He won't say a word.

Not so sure.

It's not like Barbie.

For Touvier, there's prescription.

He can take the opportunity
to justify himself.

Hello?

What do you want to know
about Touvier?

Inspector Delarue?

Who asked you
to investigate Touvier?

The prosecutor
to the Court of Security.

What for?

I'd like to see your report.

It's confidential.

It belongs to the collective memory.

What is it that you can't say?

Wait on.
Just answer by yes or no.

Can you confirm
that Paul Touvier is alive?

Yes.

You know where he is?

No.

Has he come back to France?

In my opinion,
he's always been here.

What are his relations
with the Church?

What's the role of Mgr Duquaire?

He's a mystifier or...

or is the Vatican
really protecting Touvier?

It's better we meet.

Why investigate Touvier, now?

He doesn't risk death penalty
since 67.

But there are accessory penalties:

exclusion from 10 departments

and confiscation of his goods.

Mgr Duquaire requests some leniency

so that Touvier recovers
his freedom as a citizen.

He gave in a file with a lot
of testimonies in his favour.

I was asked to check.

And so?

Behind his good Christian behaviour,
he was a bastard.

To start, he was
a railway civil servant.

It's the war
that made him known, like many.

He enjoyed power.

How did he stay hidden
for so long?

He was protected.

- By the Church?
- Not only.

By the highest level
of the government.

Why's that?

Because he's a rat.

In 47, he was arrested by chance
by Intelligence.

He'd just been sentenced to death.

He told them who he was.

Despite that, he managed to escape,
way to easily.

Strange, no?

But before,

he had given them the names
of those who'd saved him.

He did it willingly.

Intelligence used him
as an informer?

I can't prove anything,

but that's how he managed
to get away for 25 years.

By grassing on his friends
of the extreme right-wing,

on the old collabos

and the partisans of French Algeria.

His name came up
when I was investigating OAS.

Did they pressurise you?

No, but rumours went around,
to tarnish me.

There was something wrong.

Wherever I went, I discovered
Duquaire had been there before.

When I was to meet with a witness,

Duquaire had already spoken to him.

The minutes of hearings
were going around.

I sometimes felt I was followed.

Did you manage to prove

Touvier's responsibility
in the Milice?

Yes. I've gathered
damning testimonies.

The Ministers of the Interior
and Justice both backed me.

They gave me an unfavorable verdict.

And what was the outcome?

3 months ago,
President Pompidou pardoned Touvier.

Incredible.
Nobody knew about it.

It was all very discrete.

I can read the testimonies
you collected?

Everything's here.

Make good use of it.

De Gaulle wasn't Pompidou.

When they presented him
the 1st reprieve request in 63,

I believe he said:

"Touvier? 12 shots in the body."

Your excellency,
I'm glad to see you.

I'm worried about Paul.

He's got dark thoughts.

There's no reason why.
His papers are in order.

He wants us to call the children,
but Chantal is taking an exam.

I don't want to worry her.

Don't worry, Monique.
I'll talk to him.

Tell him again
the Domaines can't take the house.

That's what's bothering him most.
The house.

It's haunting him.

Thank you, Monique.

You've brought me work?

Next week.

You're right to be worried.

A journalist from L'Express
wants to contact me.

I inquired;
he's investigating Barbie in Lyon,

but he's asking the old Resistants
questions about you.

- Who's it?
- Franck Jourdan.

He contacted Delarue?

So it's over.

I thought I was quiet, but I'm not.
The manhunt has resumed.

They couldn't execute me
in 46 or 47,

so they're trying to do it now

and without any guns.

I'll agree to meet him.

It's the only way to clear you.

I've got a family of lawyers.

I contemplated the position myself.

I'll tell him you were sentenced

because you were part
of the Milice,

no serious facts are stated
in the reasons adduced for judgement.

Not even that supposed-to-be
hostage execution

in Rillieux-la-Pape.

It's not a good idea.

He's a journalist.
He'll go digging.

He'll distort what you'll say.
It will turn against me.

What we need to do
is activate our networks, anticipate.

You had started a counter-report
to defuse Delarue's?

We gave up with the reprieve.

You must finish that report,
Your Excellency.

I'll record my souvenirs.
I'll tell you nothing but the truth.

Thank you, Your Excellency.

Minutes

He didn't mention
the synagogue attack?

Rillieux-la-Pape.

It's not in the charges in 46, 47.

Paul Touvier, 1945

Hello?

I heard you'd gone to Lyon.

You intended to tell me?

I need wide press coverage
for this trial.

You know it's important
and you drop me?

Dammit, Franck.
You're not alone.

I'm there too.

I'll send you someone
from the office.

It's you that I need.

And not just for the trial.

You're with someone?

Facing Touvier.

We're looking
at each other in the eye.

You can't imagine the number
of priests who backed

his reprieve request.

Even those
who took a vow of silence.

Priest, bishops, monks...

When will you be back?

No sympathy...

Your Excellency,

I knew the name Frank Jourdan
rang a bell.

Actually, he's a Jew.

His family sought refuge
in a village near Lyon

with false papers.

After the Liberation, at 17,

he joined the Communists,

probably indoctrinated
by the Bolsheviks

who infested the maquis.

He was excluded,

because in one of his articles,

he supported the right to abort.

That's it.

That's the person
trying to right things.

Judaeo-communist.

Mr Touvier doesn't live here,

nor does anybody else.

The prefecture notified
his presidential pardon here.

To the archbishop.

- It can't be.
- You should check.

He was given an ID
although he was banished.

Your address is on it.

- So, where is he?
- No idea.

No one flings a letter
of the President of the Republic.

We gave it to a churchman
who knows how to reach him.

Who was it? Mgr Duquaire?

Can you tell me
about Mgr Duquaire?

Please leave, sir.

Thank you, Father.

Now I know
what I wanted to know.

Barbie Interview
February 1972

I'm showing Mr Klaus Altmann,

or Mr Barbie, I don't know,

the photo of Jean Moulin.

I'll ask him if he recognises him.

What a fool.
He's answering his questions.

You told him
you didn't understand French.

You're screwed, man.

I'm not a murderer.

I never tortured anybody.

I never went
to the Gestapo in Lyon.

- Watching the news?
- Yes. Barbie got trapped.

Why are you still in Lyon?
You should be in La Paz.

The world is turned
towards Barbie,

and you are blocked

on Touvier!

Stop getting at me.
Touvier is an affair of state.

You'll be grateful
we're the only ones on it.

Pompidou had
a damning inquiry on him,

but he pardoned him.

What do you mean?

Pardoned. Absolved of his faults.

Communal graves, deportations,
tortures, all forgotten...

As white as snow.

Touvier can peacefully live
in France, even in Lyon,

where he was sentenced to death.

Wait on.

"Justice would be tarnished
if the crimes

"were forgotten,
in total indifference."

I quoted Pompidou.
His letter to the Bolivian president.

Double standards,
depending on if we're French or not.

OK. If it goes right up to the top
of the government,

I want you to be 100 % sure
of your sources.

And above all,
no leak until the article's released.

- Hello.
- Hello.

You saw the hostages
before they were executed?

It was on 28 June, 44.

The day Henriot was killed.

They were 7.

They were executed
the next day, at dawn.

No. I was arrested long after.
In July.

You sure it's Touvier
who ordered it?

Yes. Delarue has the testimony
of a militiaman.

They were part of the firing squad.

They all had Jewish names.

They were all Jews?

Reprisals after an affair
during the Resistance?

If it's confirmed,
it won't be war crimes anymore.

Executing civilians
for racial or political reasons,

is a crime against humanity.
There's no prescription.

Unless he's already been
condemned for that.

It's not stated
in either of the minutes.

We must find a testimony.

Do you know of anyone
who worked with him back then?

A typist, a repentant militiaman.

There's certainly someone.

I showed the photo to Léna.

The grenade, was it him?

Yes. She recognised him.

Is she certain?

I must talk to her,
even on the phone.

She won't want to.

She told me what happened.

She'd never mentioned it to anyone.

I was there, that day.

I don't really remember.

My sister says I had nightmares
for a long time after that.

Our mother had just lit the candles
for the Sabbath.

It was cold.

They came in to the yard...

Léna said it was the tall one
who did the ordering.

He asked the refugees
to go to the synagogue,

because it would be a pity
if they missed the service.

The militiamen came back in March,

They were more.

They took our parents
and all those who were there.

No one ever came back.

Léna was at a birthday party.

She had taken me.

I had nothing to do there.

They weren't even my friends.

I should have been with them.

See that window, up there?

It was our room.

If Jourdan releases his article,
Pompidou might be targeted.

How will he react?

The Gaullists have been after him

ever since his interview
with the New York Times.

What did he say?

That the stories about medals
and Resistance pissed him off.

But Pompidou needed
the old partisans of Vichy

and the repatriates of Algeria
to oppose the communists.

That's what convinced us
to put some pressure.

It was before Barbie.
It was different.

- Jourdan's at which hotel?
- Why?

This article
must never be published.

What do you mean?

I don't want to kill him,
just discredit him.

We'll portray him as a Jew

who isn't honestly informing
but wants revenge.

Or in other words,
like a Bolshevik

ready to write anything
to destabilise the government.

Which is certainly not wrong.

I know an employee of his hotel.

A bellboy. Anyways...

I heard Jourdan tried to contact
the widow of a militiaman

who was among the executioners
of the hostages in Rillieux.

Rillieux was on orders
of the Germans.

No one's going to blame me
for that one.

He contacted the daughter of
the old caretakers of the synagogue.

How old was she?
Can we really trust

the memory of a kid
traumatised after so many years?

To our friendship,
that is so precious to me.

To our friendship.

I'm sorry I got upset the other day.

I can't stand us being upset.

I'm not there for you at the moment.

Come to Paris to ask for pardon.

Life is no fun without you.

I'm stuck here.

Then I'm coming to Lyon.

I'll be working all the time.
It will be annoying.

And I need to be alone
to sort out all my information.

Touvier could be the 1st Frenchman
to be judged

for crimes against humanity.

I spoke to the girl

of the synagogue.
I must ask you something.

In international law, this girl...

I'm talking to you about love
and you about a woman.

We're not
on the same wave length.

You're staying in Lyon for her?

Say her name again?

Yaël.

Yaël. It's pretty.

Please, come off it.

I'm touched because
she reminds of my story.

When my father was arrested
in 1944.

The Milice was searching for me,
but I was hiding.

He was taken to Drancy.

With some friends,
my mother managed to get him out.

He could have been part
of the last convoy.

It's important
Touvier should be rejudged.

A French man, not a German.

The first who will have to answer
for what he did.

It's not an old man
rescued from the camps

that you've chosen,
to reconcile with your roots.

This girl, this woman
just cannot have recognised me.

I'll tell you why.

All that concerned the Jews

was dealt with
by the bureau of Jewish affairs.

My task only implied information.

I didn't even carry a gun.

I never harmed an Israelite.

This girl, this woman
just cannot have recognised me.

I'll tell you why.

Even if there's 6 years between us,

Léna was like my mother.

One day, a few months ago,

she called me, in tears.

I couldn't recognise her voice.

She was repeating:

"They're both dead,
Daddy and Mummy.

"They're dead."

I was shocked.

I said: "But you know it."

She had got a document

with the lists of Jews from Lyon,
who died in Auschwitz.

She was 13 once again.
It was her 13-year-old voice.

When there was a report
on Eastern countries,

Léna and I would always
look at the faces.

We tried to recognise them.

They might have been alive
when the Russians arrived.

They might have gone with them.

They might have been...

stuck there,
on the other side of the wall.

She always waited for them.

We can now give them a grave.

I think Touvier has come back
to live in the area.

He's not dead?

When I will have found him,

you think your sister will accept
to testify against him?

You said there's prescription.

Throwing a grenade at people

because they're Jews,

that could be
a crime against humanity.

In that case,
there's no prescription.

I think it would help
your sister and yourself, Yaël.

It is a right to claim reparation.

You're a journalist or a prosecutor?

What do you get whether
he pays or not for what he did?

I'll try to convince her.

I don't know if she'll have
the courage to face him again.

Neither do I.

They said I'd have given myself up
if I'd really been innocent.

But I was taking care
of my sick father.

And I had started a family.

How would they have lived?

But living always hidden is hard.

One day, I was fed up.

It's my son Pierre, 5 years old,

who stopped me in the stairs
and said:

"Daddy, you're not going
to the police."

And I, before this little man,

I halted.

They said I'd have given myself up
if I'd really been innocent.

But I was taking care
of my sick father.

Thank you.

"Touvier's chauffeur

"was a resistant
infiltrated in the Milice.

"I'll call you this evening.
Henri Jeanblanc."

Jeanblanc, I read your note.

Thanks for the tip.

Is that old chauffeur still there?

Can we find him?

Hello?

Jeanblanc?

Is that you Mr Vistel?

Hello?

Hello?
What's this damn game?

Who's speaking?

Hello?

Perron. "André Perron."

This time, Mr Franck Jourdan,
I'm one step ahead of you.

That piece of shit?
I will not sign.

If it wasn't for your cassock,
I'd fist you.

I'll let you think about it.

There's nothing to think about.
Go away. Get lost!

If you change minds, I'm here.

Stop harassing me. Dammit!

I had no feelings for Touvier.

It's bullshit!
He wasn't aware!

Dammit!

Was it Mgr Duquaire?

- Yes.
- I'm a journalist.

I'm preparing an article
on Touvier's abuses.

What did he want?

Turn Touvier into a resistant,

because I used his Citroën
to set up plans in the maquis.

Daring, huh!

If that slut had known it,
I'd have been fired on the spot.

The Milice was just as bad
as the Gestapo.

You were well placed
to know certain things.

Remember the execution
of hostages in 44?

How can I forget that?

Did you see Paul Touvier point out

to the people
who were to be shot?

You heard him order
the firing squad?

Whatever you tell me
can send him to prison.

It's Touvier who ordered the raid
the day before.

His militiamen arrested Jews
and took them to his department.

I don't know if the decision was made
by de Bourmont or Vichy.

- It wasn't the Germans?
- Definitely not.

Summer of 44, the Germans
were in trouble everywhere.

The reprisals after Henriot died,

was a decision of the Milice,
not of the Germans.

Thank you.

Take that.

He was excluded
because in an article,

he had supported
the right to abort.

Hello?

Mgr Duquaire?
We met at the garage.

I'm glad you've called back, Perron.

I'm not André Perron.

But I was taking care of my father.

Is your friend Paul there?
Can I talk to him?

I don't know where he is,
Mr Jourdan.

Could you arrange a meeting?

Let's say...

OK, I'll put you through.

Listen to the voice
of sincerity and innocence.

De Bourmont told me about Henriot

You know, Rillieux,

is the tragedy of my life.

De Bourmont said:

"I told the Germans
it was horrendous,

"but I had to accept
to get 30 people shot."

Where to get them from?
The prisons?

We were compelled and forced to.

What should we have done?

Tell the Germans?
They'd have killed 100.

So we talked it over
with De Bourmont, to avoid that.

Eventually, out of the 30 prisoners,
only 7 were shot down.

But who selected them? You?
On what criteria?

All 7 were Jews.

Hello.
I want to meet you.

Hello?

Bastard!

Come in.

I can come back if you're busy.

No, come in.

Léna has accepted to testify.

This time,
it's he who'll be afraid.

I hope he'll die in the nick.

Your sister's going to find it hard.

They'll be hard on her.
Touvier will deny it all.

It will be his word
against a child's stories.

We can try to get more testimonies.

Léo Glaeser.

He was with the hostages
who were shot.

He managed to save
many Jewish children

by crossing the Swiss border.

Léna has kept in touch with his son.

You alright?

Léo Glaeser was a resistant.

Touvier will say
that's why he arrested him.

What's the difference?

If we don't find
an anti-Semitic intention,

Touvier could get away once again.

The execution
will prove to be a war crime.

His lawyers will play on
the prescription.

What about what he did
in the synagogue?

I'll go for a stroll to Chambéry,
where he grew up.

I've come to pick up
the forms of those bastards.

There's this one.

A Prefect. Respectable.

His hands are dirty.
Everything's here.

I've tracked him since 1939.

This one is an old left-winger.

She spent her time
grassing to the Gestapo,

and now, she's sacrosanct.

A billionaire.

I'll give her a call.

There are only first-order people
in this box of crap.

They're caught.

The war is not over.

Morning, Sister.
I'd like to see Father Dubouchet.

He's retired.

He's very close to François Touvier

and one of his sons
who lived nearby.

You know the family?

Everyone knows them in Chambéry.
They've been here for a while.

The father died
8 or 9 years ago.

- Sister Marthe used to nurse him.
- Any heirs?

I don't know any.

Can I talk to sister Marthe?

I'm sorry.
Men can't come in here.

In the middle of the night,
Simon managed to get a compromise.

The same terrible compromise
I had to make too.

The Germans were contented
with 7 hostages.

Simon was acquitted in 1953
by the military court,

in one day's hearing.

We must remind everybody,
Your Grace.

The other day, when evoking
the hostages of Rillieux,

you asked me why I didn't resign.

Here's my answer.

My conscience advised me that day,

that by giving in
7 Jewish hostages,

I saved 93 human lives.

I've never seen you here
for a consultation.

What's your name, Father?

Paul Touvier.

- What pain are you suffering from?
- Calumny.

I can't do anything for you.

I'm not addressing the doctor,
but the officer,

the right-winger
engaged in the Resistance.

I'm ready to account for my actions
during the war,

but not before the press.

I'm asking to assemble
a jury of honour.

I will accept its sentence.

There's no risk for you anymore.
It's too late for regrets.

I will always have regrets.

Who doesn't have any?

I can't stand
being dragged through the dirt.

I need to give an explanation.

You alone could understand
the sometimes terrible decisions

that I had to make to protect
the population from the Nazis.

I'm not the only one.

See Commander Simon,
in Bourg-en-Bresse,

You're trying to manipulate me?
Think I'm a fool?

You've not changed.
You haven't learnt a thing.

No jury of honour
for a dishonoured man.

Thanks for seeing me, Doctor.

I was glad
to recall the past with you.

To the Chief Editor
of Dauphiné Libéré,

I heard from a well informed source

that Dr Anselme,
resistant from the very start,

warmly welcomed
old militant Paul Touvier.

Both men had a long discussion

like old friends having a coffee.

Marianne, it's Jourdan.

OK, I've got him.

I've located him.

Well, 99 % sure that it's Touvier.

He's still in the region.

I followed his wife.

I discovered
he goes by the name of Berthet.

He? Well, he goes out only at night.

He's hiding in his place
in Chambéry.

Send Nathan over.
I'll force him to show himself.

- Hello, sir.
- Thank you.

- Hello.
- Louis Goudard.

I'm the 8th hostage.

The one who survived
the firing squad in Rillieux.

The militiamen had raided the Jews
in their homes,

in cafés, in the street...

We were 11, all together.

Come over here!

What's happening?

Henriot was shot down.

- Henriot?
- That's not good for us.

They won't dare.

Owing to the landing,
they know it's over.

They've got nothing to lose.

You're a Jew, as well?

Krzykowski,

Schlisselmann,

Ben Zimra,

Zeizig,

Prock,

Glaeser,

Cohen,

Goudard.

Gonnet!

Goudard.

Goudard!

Not him.

Come on.

All night long,
I was preparing to die.

I was one of the leaders of FTP-MOI.

I was sure I was done.

As reprisals
to a resistant action,

Touvier only chose
Jewish civilians.

It's because he spared me
that I want to testify.

He didn't do it out of sympathy
but anti-Semitism.

Because I didn't have a Jewish name.

It's OK.

Firing squad, aim!

Fire!

No! No!

The comforting slippers
that await you in the evening.

The children gazing in wonder
while offering them as a gift...

We can't stay stuck in
our whole life.

You're fed up living with me?
Go on, say it.

You've been thinking it's hell
for a while now.

You want to leave?

It's all behind us, now, Paul.

We can live normally.

We have no choice.
We must live like everybody.

I'll never leave you.

You're right.
I'm losing my mind.

I'll be OK.

I didn't sleep well.

I think it's his wife.
She's leaving.

Come, let's give it a try
before she comes back.

Hello. It's Franck Jourdan.
You can deliver the flowers.

Mr Berthet!

The one on the right.
On the right.

Mr Berthet, it's on behalf
of Klaus Barbie.

It's OK. Let's go.

Jeanne?

Hello?

- Franck?
- Jeanne? Where are you?

In your room, in Lyon.

I thought you had dropped me.

Poor darling.

When I arrived,
they said you had just left.

Franck...

- I caught Touvier.
- Really?

We've got his photo.

It will rock the country.

It might be time to face facts.

I believe all that you say.

I'll try to sleep,
I'm off on the 1st train tomorrow.

And I must be at office by 7.

OK, good night, my love.
Tight kisses.

I'll dream of you.

I don't think so.

You'll cheat on me with Touvier.

Really, this photo's incredible.

Look.

He might be judged before Barbie,
thanks to us.

Thanks to Franck.

Tell me, why is Duquaire
protecting him so much?

He's a former collabo?

No. They met after the war.

OK. It will be printed tomorrow.

We'll trigger a scandal

with this story
of presidential pardon.

But before, I'd like the Elysée
to justify it, even unofficially.

By tomorrow, it's cutting it fine.

I'll see on Balladur's side?

No. It's not him who took over
Delarue's investigation.

Check with the Private Secretary
of Pompidou.

Marie-Laure Dubosc,
his confident for 30 years.

She's the silent partner.

Mrs Dubosc,
why does President Pompidou

judge Barbie's crimes
as imprescriptible,

and pardons Touvier's?

Leave my table.

My papers will publish an article
on Touvier's reprieve.

Did you convince the president?

I have no sympathy for Touvier.

I was uneasy with this case.
I hesitated a lot.

But... I...

His children are allowed
a normal life.

They're big now.
They're in university.

- They don't have his name.
- There was prescription.

For Touvier,

his goal was to recover
confiscated goods.

Which ones?
Those he took from the Jews?

I couldn't send
Cardinal Villot's Secretary packing.

The Church is continuously
criticizing Pompidou's politics.

He even took up for the farmers
in Larzac.

I saw an opportunity
for reconciliation.

The pope's envoy
was Monseigneur Duquaire?

He's never been a spokesman
for the cardinal.

He was his butler,

his stooge.

The Holy See will hate to be involved
in the pardon of a criminal.

Moreover, I reckon
the trial will be resounding.

Please give me a moment
to talk to the President.

Gentlemen...

L'Express
Our journalist finds Paul Touvier

The Touvier affair
could undermine the government,

the police, the secret services
and even the Church.

The executioner of Lyon,
sentenced to death,

has been peacefully living
in his home, for over 20 years.

undisturbed.

After it was revealed
Pres. Pompidou had pardoned him,

the former leader of the Milice...

They didn't want him to make
embarrassing revelations.

Touvier's survival instinct
is delation.

Nothing has changed.

He gets everybody involved,
his helpers and the others.

Testimonies are flowing in...

The crap the Jews have spread.

He asserts
that Touvier got them deported

by accusing them of a sabotage

that had happened
way off from there.

I must talk to Duquaire.

We have Mgr Duquaire
live from Lyon.

There.

Monseigneur Duquaire,
a declaration.

Is the Church responsible?

No. I confirm I have acted
on my own initiative.

- Without consulting your superiors?
- I was abused

in the name of Christian charity.

I want the children to come back.

We mustn't be apart anymore.

All 4 of us together.

I called them.

Following the presidential pardon
granted to Touvier,

the head of the Milice's 2nd bureau
in Lyon, during the war,

a demonstration took place
in front of Touvier's property.

Mrs Beate Klarsfeld,

accompanied by 20 people
from Paris, Lyon or Grenoble

and claiming to be from
the Intl League against racism...

Hello, Jourdan?

It's Touvier.

I demand the right to respond.

Yes.

Alright.

I never was at the head
of the Lyon Milice.

I never took part
in a punitive expedition

because I never went on the field.

That Spaniard is lying.

I organised Intelligence

from documents provided by Vichy.

I recruited agents,
I investigated people,

even those in the highest ranks
of the State.

I kept a record of files.

All political parties do so.

I was just a cog in the machine,

without any real power.

And yet, at my small level,

I managed to save lives.

Milice Member - Nazi - Murderer

During a ceremony
at the Jewish cemetery in Lyon,

for the victims of Touvier,

the chief rabbi recalled
with emotion

the murder of Basch, cofounder
of the Human Rights League

and his wife Hélène.

Too old to be deported,

the couple was executed,
shot in the head.

Hello?

Fire!

Lécussan admitted the crime of Basch
before being shot.

I read his file.

He was with the German Morritz
and Gonnet.

Gonnet was under your command.

If I remember well,
Lécussan spoke about

another chief of the Milice.
Was it you?

No, I wasn't there.

Gonnet told me the next day,
he had screwed up.

He was with the men
of another service.

And who was the other one?

I'm not a rat!
I don't know!

What about the camps,

you didn't know either?

I was in Lyon.
How could I have known?

Ask him why he can't sleep.
His victims come to visit him?

Which victims?

Who is tracked, harassed?

Who must live hidden?
Who gets

death threats?

Even the Jews didn't suffer as much
during the war!

It's late. I suggest
we speak about it face to face.

I'll come and see you
in Chambéry any time.

I'll call you back
to give you my answer.

It will be on my conditions.

What are you hiding?
Show me.

"Paul Touvier

"Care of Intelligence.

"The Resistance continues and has
sentenced you to death. Get ready."

I'll call the cops.

You think they'll come?

You're dreaming.

They all agree to kill me.

Let's go, till things calm down.

If I go out, they'll abduct me.
Abduct me and kill me.

OK. You know if he has a lawyer,
Mummy?

No.

We're studying law.
We could defend him.

Come.

It's sister Marthe!
Open fast!

Someone's trying to contact you.

A demonstration
is approaching your place.

Someone will pick you up tonight

to take you
to la Grande Chartreuse.

Touvier murderer!
Pompidou accomplice!

Touvier!

Hello. Your papers, please.

OK. All's well. Go ahead.

The execution of Rillieux-la-Pape.

And the 7 hostages
shot in Rillieux as reprisals,

my role was simply to pick people
for De Bourmont,

not to hand over hostages
to the Germans.

He's just confessed.
It's he who chose them.

Monseigneur, I never handed over
anybody to the Germans

as they say it is.

It's an issue that was dealt with
among the French

to avoid a massacre.

But what was in your mind

when you chose them to be shot?

I thought I was doing my duty
by avoiding the worst.

When there's a war, people die.

Those deaths
are not on my conscience.

Our country... for over 30 years,

has gone from one
national tragedy to another.

It was war,

the defeat

and its humiliations.

The occupation and its horrors.

The Liberation backlashed,

the purge and its excesses.

Let's admit it.

And then, the Indochina war.

And then the horrible
Algerian conflict and its terrors.

On both sides! And the exodus.

20 million French people
expulsed from their homes.

And thus, the OAS

and its attacks and violence,

and as a backlash, repression.

So, mind you,
having been denounced

by people of Vichy
to the German police.

Having escaped twice

an attack from the OAS,

I feel I'm in the right to say:

how long are we going to keep

the wounds of our national
disagreements bleeding?

Isn't it time to draw the veil,

and forget the times

when the French didn't love
each other, tore themselves apart?

Does our face to face meeting
still stand?

Hello, Mr Jourdan.

Paul Touvier's run ended in 1989,

in a convent
attached to Mgr Lefèbvre.

The deportation of Spanish refugees

could not be charged
against Touvier.

For the murder
of Basch and his wife,

the grenade attack in the synagogue

and the execution of 7 hostages

Touvier was granted a nonsuit

by the Paris court of appeal, in 91.

This trial aroused indignation

and Touvier
was transferred to the court

where he was convicted
for one single case:

the 7 Jewish hostages shot.

In 94,
he was the 1st Frenchman

sentenced to life imprisonment

for crimes against humanity.

He died two years later, in 1996,

in the prison of Fresnes
at the age of 81.

Subtitles: Eclair Media