Champ de Bataille is an immersive experience in the heart of Verdun’s trenches in 1916, during a murderous offensive. While participating in a TV program on WWI, I had the opportunity to meet some of the war’s remaining first-hand participants. This was both a shock and an opportunity for me to delve into my own family roots, since my grandfather had fought in this war. It also gave me a chance to explore my favourite theme: the human becoming. In 2016, I discovered another frontline as I watched my son venture into the intricacies of the video game, Battlefield 1. As impressive as it is, it’s devoid of what I consider to be an absolutely essential element: humanity—the inclination to be, to live, to feel something in one’s very flesh, and to fear for one’s life. The film offers an emotional counterpoint to this kind of immersion, while highlighting the absurdity of war. Julien, our young hero, is fragile, near-deaf, and a stranger in a world whose meaning he no longer understands. He’s in charge of maintaining open lines of communication: a metaphor for the lost human connection between good and evil. In spite of himself, Julien allows his officers to re-establish contact, who then send men to their deaths. He’s not actively fighting, but he remains the target and devastated witness of this battlefield. Champ de Bataille captures this devastation.
Key Team Members:
Director: François Vautier
Scenario: François Vautier & Geoffroy Grison
Actors: Rod Paradot & Thimothée Robart
Music: Pascal Bantz
Executive production: Jeremy Sahel – Da Prod
Coproduction: France TV Story Lab, Digital Voodooh, Kwassa film