Anti-fascist film ‘La guerre est finie’ to screen in L.A.

LOS ANGELES—Marx @ 200: The Marxist Movie Series presents La guerre est finie (The War Is Over) with actor Yves Montand playing a Spanish Communist who continues to fight Franco’s fascism underground. The French director Alain Resnais’s 1966 drama co-stars Québecoise actress Geneviève Bujold and Sweden’s Ingrid Thulin, co-star of nine Ingmar Bergman films.

The screenplay was written by Madrid-born Jorge Semprún, who also co-wrote Costa-Gavras’s film Z. La guerre est finie was nominated for Best Screenplay Oscar. The film is in French and Spanish with English subtitles.

The film takes place in 1965 in France and Spain. One of the ideological issues at stake is how best to oppose Franco’s dictatorship, through strikes, demonstrations, or terrorist actions aimed at discouraging the budding Spanish tourist industry which helps support the Franco regime.

Film historian/critic Ed Rampell introduces the film, which will be followed by Q&A and discussion.

Marx @ 200: The Marxist Movie Series commemorates the bicentennial of Karl Marx’s birth by screening films by and/or about Marxists or from a Marxist point of view. For the complete schedule see here. A trailer can be viewed on that site. A full plot summary of the film can be found here. For further information contact: 200MarxMMS@gmail.com.

La guerre est finie screens on Thursday, August 23 at the L.A. Workers Center, 1251 S. St. Andrews Place, Los Angeles 90019. The location is reachable only from Pico Blvd., about two blocks west of Western Ave. Doors open at 7:00 pm; program starts by 7:30 pm. Refreshments are served. Donations requested.