Film Review : Dreyfusgate This morning, we went and watched J'accuse at the cinema. This French film was directed by Roman Polanski and it is based on the Dreyfus gate that shaken France at the end of the 19th Century Dreyfus was a captain in the army and was accused of high betrayal (treason) because he was suspected to give classified information to the Germans. Thus, he was sent to prison and sentenced to exile on an island far away from territorial France. He was sentenced while the government did not have real proofs he was guilty but because he was Jewish. There was antisemitimism at that time in the country. The film describes perfectly how Dreyfus was a scapegoat, how the government manipulated documents while they knew he was innocent, how they refused to acknowledge they were wrong. The film highlights a colonel who discovers the truth and tries to innocent Dreyfus. Dreyfus had two trials and he was sentenced of high treason twice. He lost his honors. Eventually, at the end of the second trial, the government proposed to grace him after 10 years of prison. Dreyfus accepted. In the film, we also see the author Emile Zola defending Dreyfus. In real life, he wrote an article entitled "J'accuse" (I accuse) where he accused and named the members of the government who wanted to condemn Dreyfus without having proofs. Zola was sentenced to one year of prison and some people called anti-Dreyfus burnt his books on the streets. I really liked the film that lasted more than 2 hours. It was well done, quite closed to the real Dreyfusgate and the actors are good. However, this film created a real scandal and was cancelled in some parts of France (even in some cinemas in Paris). Why? Because the director is accused of rapes (he has been accused in the past such as in the US for example). So some people say that if you go and see this film, it means that you support what he does. Other people say that they went and watched the film because they made a distinction between the artist on the one hand and its art on the other hand. Anyway, we watched it with three classes today and from a historic viewpoint, the film is really well done. If you have an opportunity to watch it one day, do it, you won't regret it. The film is having a big success. Below are the poster of the film, the caption of Zola's newpaper article, an illustration of Dreyfus being rejected by the army and an illustration of French people fighting because of the Dreyfusgate. Thank you for correcting my mistakes.