Rediscover Week-end à Zuydcoote at the Cinéma de la Plage

Film still of Week-end à Zuydcoote (Week-end at Dunkirk) © RR

The Festival whisks you away from the beaches of Cannes to that of Dunkirk with a special, restored screening of Week-end à Zuydcoote (Weekend at Dunkirk). Released in 1964, Henri Verneuil's classic stars Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marie Dubois, Jean-Pierre Marielle and Pierre Mondy, taking us back in time to June 1940 and the German bombings.

On the beaches of Dunkirk, Sergent Julien Maillat (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and his comrades have missed the boat for England. As a war he takes no pleasure in rages, Julien meets Jeanne. Holed up in her house, she falls prey to two soldiers who attempt to rape her. Julien saves Jeanne, and convinces her to run away with him.

Based on a Goncourt Prize-winning novel. Robert Merle wrote Week-end à Zuydcoote in 1940, recounting the events of the Battle of Dunkirk through his own eyes. Fifteen years later, he began writing again, working with Henri Verneuil, who until then was known for his comedies.

An upbeat atmosphere reigned on set, with the actors joking around and enjoying themselves. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Pierre Mondy, François Périer and Jean-Pierre Marielle entertained themselves by trying to throw one another off, including in scenes that required a lot of extras, which led to a general sense of on-set chaos. Browsing through the filming archives, some scenes show them spraying one another with water, playing around like children.