Le Faux Soir
November 1943. Belgium is groaning under German occupation, and the newspaper Le Soir was hijacked by the Nazis as a propaganda channel. When even the Armistice commemoration was banned, a group of Brussels resistance fighters led by the anarchist poet Marc ‘Yvon’ Aubrion (Arieh Worthalter) devised a plan that was as daring as it was mad: a fake edition of Le Soir a newspaper that is almost indistinguishable from the real thing, but is full of articles that mercilessly ridicule the occupying forces. To get the fake newspaper onto the newsstands alongside the genuine copies, they must find paper, printing presses and accomplices in the utmost secrecy. A single misstep could cost them their lives.
With Le Faux Soir, Michaël R. Roskam (Rundskop, The Drop) brings one of the most spectacular acts of resistance in Belgian history back to life. He adapts this true story into a high-octane heist film, in which improvisation, daring and Brussels wit are at least as important as courage. Arieh Worthalter (Le Procès Goldman) leads an impressive cast that includes Mélanie Thierry, Karim Leklou, Mara Taquin, Bouli Lanners and François Damiens.
Behind the suspense and humour lies a particularly topical story about propaganda, manipulation and the power of the media. After all, whoever controls the information helps to determine what people accept as true. Roskam turns this almost forgotten act of resistance into a compelling ode to the power of words, humour and imagination. Not bullets but printing ink: a stunning piece of Belgian history that, more than eighty years later, has lost none of its relevance.
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