I Accuse

When Jean Diaz comes back from the trenches of the First World War he can never return to his old life. He gives up love and any life of his own and devotes himself to science: he wants to build a machine that will make war impossible. He believes he has succeeded, but the state takes his discovery for another purpose. As Europe slides towards a new war, Diaz turns to a last resort. Abel Gance's 1938 film is the sound remake of his own J'accuse from 1919. Gance made the first one as the war was ending; he made this second one on the eve of a new war, as a warning. Victor Francen plays Diaz. The closing scene in which the dead rise from their graves was shot at the war memorial at Douaumont and became the most talked about part of the film.