Un Village Français 1.03

Passer la ligne

or Crossing the Line

Sep 30, 1940

Von Ritter, the German commander, comes to Raymond Schwartz. The Germans are in need of boards to fix up the school which they are now using as a barracks. Von Ritter hopes that Schwartz's saw mill can provide the needed material.

A German military telephone cable was cut the night before. Von Ritter comes to Daniel Larcher, who is now officially the mayor of Villeneuve. Von Ritter wants a list of 20 men. Larcher agrees to get him the list. Larcher then turns to De Kervern and Machetti, the two policemen in town. He talks them into investigating the crime.

Raymond Schwartz receives a note that Marie Germain's husband was killed in the fighting. He is tasked with delivering the news to her. The route to her place is blocked by German troops but he gets someone to relay a message to her. She comes to the road block. He gives her the news and a letter that was found on her husband.

Lucienne is reprimanded by officials from the school board. They hold her responsible for the deaths of the two children who were killed in the first episode. She tries to insist that the could have been killed just as easily elsewhere but the men from the school board insist she signs a paper admitting to her culpability.

De Kervern discovers that the school was robbed of some food. The broken telephone line is right outside the school. He puts the pieces together and figures out that the thief must have broken the line while he was escaping. Daniel Larcher takes this information to Von Ritter but the German commander is not satisfied. He insists that the 20 men on the list that Larcher supplies must stand guard every night until the saboteur is caught.

Marcel Larcher is called on to go meet with someone else from the Communist Party. He has to cross German lines in order to meet with this man. He is given more tasks once he meets with the man who insists that they should not view the Germans as enemies. There is a pact between the Russians and the Germans.

Jacques, the wanderer who was last seen in the first episode, is caught during the night. He is locked up by the police for being out after curfew.

De Kervern discovers what happened to the missing food, or at least part of it. Mr. Marek, an immigrant who lives and works in the school sold some of it on the black market. He claims he didn't steal it. Daniel Larcher and the police men try to decide what to do. In the end they arrest him for complicity. He is supposed to get dealt with by the French judicial system but once the Germans get word of the arrest they come and take Marek away.

De Kervern lets Jacques go. He sees evidence that he might have been the thief. De Kervern doesn't share that with anyone else.

Marcel gets home from his mission only to discover that his wife has died. Daniel is there with Marcel's son and a priest. Marcel kicks his brother and the priest out.

Thoughts

The mayor and the police officers were put in a tough position in this episode. They are still learning about what life is like under the Germans. They thought they could handle the situation but in the end they learned that it wasn't that simple.

De Kervern and Marchetti are both policemen but they are not cut from the same piece of cloth. De Kervern is probably 20 years older than Marchetti. He has seen and experienced considerably more. He seems to take a much more nuanced view of the world that Marchetti.

I'm still curious about Jacques' story. Virtually nothing has been revealed about him. 

I continue to be impressed and moved by this series.