The film is set in 1958, when France was engaged in the Algerian War, the same year the Fourth Republic collapsed, and General de Gaulle was elected to re-establish the "Fifth Republic". Although he was inclined to allow Algeria to gradually become independent, the local French were reluctant to do so, and they stubbornly resisted the Arab guerrillas.
From the perspective of world history, this war should be characterized as the war of independence, which is algerian war for freedom, which is not wrong by definition. However, for many French people at that time, Algeria was an integral part of the French mainland, and other large areas of African land in France were classified as colonies and protectorates, except for Algeria, which was divided into several provinces and regarded as the core headquarters of France.
Although France ruled the region in the early 19th century with brutality, the subsequent "Frenchization" regulations did pay off, with The Algerian capital, Algiers, still known as "Little Paris", and the Arab elite from Algeria took pride in entering French high society. Separated by a sea between southern France and northern Algeria, the relationship was like between the two sides of the Strait.
This film, on the other hand, takes the war-averse "Little Soldier" as the protagonist, unveiling the other side behind the "fiery red age" in France.
The "fear" in the heart of the French
When this war broke out, the issue of the local people's struggle for independence was not the main axis of the war, but the main contradiction came from the warring factions and peace-talkers within France, who stated their ideas through this "native" war, and the general French people were tired of it.
Later, there were infighting between the left and right factions on the Arab side and the French side, and with the gradually rising trend of independence, the combination of the four factions became very complicated, but it was originally controlled within the scope of the "French civil war". It was not until the French side advocating permanent union with Algeria lost power and the countries of the world began to support Algerian independence, that the "civil war" gradually turned into an independence and liberation war.
Many Frenchmen were helpless in this process, not only disagreeing with the suppression of a few forces, but also fearing the decolonization of the French by the Algerian guerrillas. The protagonist of "Little Soldier" is to escape french military service and go to neutral Switzerland. There, because of his disgraceful record, he was "blackmailed" by the French mysterious organization and assigned to a series of "anti-left" tasks.
The "Civil War" in the French Theater of World War II
Not only was the Algerian War originally a "civil war" that made the French unable to participate, but even the entire French theater of World War II only needed to eliminate the role of Nazi Germany. In a way, it can also be seen as another civil war that stems from the struggle between the left and the right.
In terms of national strength alone, the Vichy regime that the Nazis propped up during World War II was not very good, and it was able to barely maintain the situation, naturally because of Nazi military control, but at the same time, many French people did not resent the Vichy regime, and maintained respect for its leader, Marshal Pétain.
During World War II, there were many "legal traitors" who voluntarily joined Vichy, and they did not consider themselves to be national sinners. On the contrary, they felt that joining the camp would be more effective, promote the ideas they believed, and even believe that although the Vichy regime was a Nazi puppet, it was still better than the previous Third Republic.
The helplessness of the creeps
The mysterious organization of "Minions", according to the director's setting, was founded by ex-Vichy elements, targeting not only Algerian guerrillas and their sympathizers, but also using the excuse to purge intellectuals in France, who believed that the latter was dragging France around World War II and was the real enemy of France.
However, for the young Bruno, the protagonist of the film, and for Godard, these old grudges are not valuable, but he knows that he cannot escape the above atmosphere, nor can he change the unspoken rules of French society, and he is powerless to restrain the conscription and war, only to accept fate and perform tasks.
Our history textbooks have always held that in the eyes of mainstream French and intellectual youth, both the Second World War and the Algerian War were involved in the fate of the French state, and that what position they occupied in the war spectrum should be an important and serious matter. However, the protagonist of "Creeps" depicts an interesting scene in which Bruno, who deserts because of his antipathy to the war, joins the mysterious organization.
He did not engage in military activities for ideals, but he also refused to submit to the Algerian guerrillas and was critical of the latter's resistance, which was different from Godard's later film "Chinese Girl". Bruno's lover worked for the Algerian National Liberation Front guerrillas, but he didn't care, and was with her only because of her exotic status.
The other side of the fiery red age
The film also tells the story of France, which on the one hand regards the FLN as an opponent; on the other hand, deals with the enemies of the weak female stream in the same terrible way. This "abstract interaction" between small people and the state is expressed through film, as well as New Wave films, and Godard is a pioneer.
Especially when many young people dissatisfied with the status quo have joined opposition organizations and opposition groups, and the youth league of another force has recruited new people at the same time, Godard has made a difference through the film' rhetoric and ambition, which has also made people decades later discover the other side of the so-called fiery era.
Godard famously said: "The movie is a twenty-four-square-second reality", which is from the mouth of Bruno, the protagonist of "Creeps". The "truth" here is the response of the broad masses to the ideological nihilism caused by the struggle between the left and the right: although these masses also have this or that or left or right dissatisfaction with reality, if these pursuits are to become the whole of their lives, I am sorry, I am afraid that it is not "the truth of twenty-four squares a second".
epilogue:
This nothingness is common all over the world, for example, in HK, where some people are very tired of the spectrum of "pan-democrats" against "establishment", shouting "resistance" at every turn, but powerless to change, only cynically ridiculing both sides. For various reasons, people who have to participate in it, like Bruno, are considered disloyal, or like Godard, the work is first banned and then beaten, which is also the helplessness of some people.
50 years ago, Godard, a new director in France, visualized this sense of powerlessness through New Wave films. But to dissect the nothingness of the current Hong Kong people, under today's conditions, I don't know which master to wait for.