During the Second World War, Yvon joins the Gestapo to save his Jewish girlfriend, Stella, from deportation. When France is liberated, he has to answer for his past. Hunted, he decides to escape to Spain, but Stella refuses to go with him.
Acting
Nicole Garcia's Stella is devastatingly unreadable.
Writing
No heroes, just people choosing badly under pressure.
Director
Laurent Heynemann
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rare 1980s French cinema directly confronting collaboration guilt; most contemporaries preferred heroic Resistance narratives.
The real Stella allegedly inspired multiple films; her actual fate remains disputed, which Heynemann exploits for maximum ambiguity.
FR
