History Film / AnOfficerAndASpy

The film centers on [[BasedOnATrueStory the notorious 19th century Dreyfus Affair]]. [[UsefulNotes/GaulsWithGrenades French army]] officer Marie-Georges Picquart (Creator/JeanDujardin) is appointed chief of the army's intelligence section (Deuxième Bureau, service de renseignement militaire) in 1895. He discovers that doctored evidence was used to convict Alfred Dreyfus (Louis Garrel), one of the few Jewish members of the French Army's general staff (in which antisemitic conspiracy theories abund), of passing military secrets to the German Empire. Picquart risks his career and his life, struggling for a decade to expose the truth and liberate the wrongly convicted Dreyfus from the Devil's Island prison.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Almost everyone is an antisemite, and indeed the fact that Dreyfus is Jewish played a big part to make him suspicious once the military started looking for a mole. Homophobia is common, too.

* TheAlcatraz: Devil's Island, the remote overseas penal colony Dreyfus is sent to.

The film centers on [[BasedOnATrueStory the notorious 19th century Dreyfus Affair]]. French officer Marie-Georges Picquart (Creator/JeanDujardin) is appointed chief of the army's intelligence section (Deuxième Bureau, service de renseignement militaire) in 1895. He discovers that doctored evidence was used to convict Alfred Dreyfus (Louis Garrel), one of the few Jewish members of the French Army's general staff (in which antisemitic conspiracy theories abund), of passing military secrets to the German Empire. Picquart risks his career and his life, struggling for a decade to expose the truth and liberate the wrongly convicted Dreyfus from the Devil's Island prison.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Alphonse Bertillon (Creator/MathieuAmalric) is presented as a graphology expert, while he wasn't one in RealLife (rather he was a criminologist who basically pioneered biometry). His antisemitic opinions on the Dreyfus case are still depicted however.

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: When the Dreyfus Affair is at its boiling point in the French public opinion, some anti-Dreyfus people start burning piles of the newspaper L'Aurore (which defends Dreyfus) in the streets, then attack shops owned by Jews, even painting stars of David on the shops frontage they don't wreck. Sounds familiar?

* GreedyJew: Not played straight. Rather, a number of people in the army believe in corruption by "international Jewry" and are satisfied with Dreyfus being degraded and exiled, with some even actively trying to sweep Picquart's investigation under the rug and forging evidences.

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: When the Dreyfus Affair is at its boiling point in the French public opinion, some anti-Dreyfus people start burning piles of the newspaper L'Aurore (which defends Dreyfus) in the streets, then attack shops owned by Jews, even painting stars of David on the shops frontages they don't break. Sounds familiar?

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Picquart is eventually pitted against his hierarchy, and still won't stop doing his best to prove the innocence of Dreyfus.

* ANaziByAnyOtherName: When the Dreyfus Affair is at its boiling poing in the French public opinion, some anti-Dreyfus people start burning piles of the newspaper L'Aurore (which defends Dreyfus) in the streets and start attacking shops owned by Jews, even painting stars of David on the shops frontages they don't break. Sounds familiar?

''An Officer and a Spy'' (French title ''{{Jaccuse}}'') is a French historical drama film written and directed by Creator/RomanPolanski and based on the Robert Harris book ''Literature/AnOfficerAndASpy''.

''An Officer and a Spy'' (French title ''J'accuse'' - "I accuse") is a French historical drama film written and directed by Creator/RomanPolanski and based on the Robert Harris book ''Literature/AnOfficerAndASpy''.

The film centers on the notorious 19th century Dreyfus Affair. French officer Marie-Georges Picquart (Creator/JeanDujardin) is appointed chief of the army's intelligence section (Deuxième Bureau, service de renseignement militaire) in 1895. He discovers that doctored evidence was used to convict Alfred Dreyfus (Louis Garrel), one of the few Jewish members of the French Army's general staff (in which antisemitic conspiracy theories abund), of passing military secrets to the German Empire. Picquart risks his career and his life, struggling for a decade to expose the truth and liberate the wrongly convicted Dreyfus from the Devil's Island prison.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Alphonse Bertillon (Creator/MathieuAmalric) is presented as a graphology expert, while he wasn't one in RealLife. His antisemitic opinions on the Dreyfus case are still depicted however.

* InsaneTrollLogic: The first evidence that is used against Dreyfus is proven to not have been written by him. The graphology expert accuses him nonetheless, stating that "Jewry" taught him how to hide his personal writing patterns...

* ArmiesAreEvil: Picquart is pretty much the only figure of the French military who truly wants to stand for justice and honesty in the case of Dreyfus. Most of the others believe in antisemitic conspiracy theories and want the army to remain "clean" and the very idea of another scandal hitting it prompts them to churn out lies, fake proofs and cover-ups to maintain the disgrace of Dreyfus.

* GreedyJew: Not played straight. Rather, a number of people in the army believe in corruption by "international Jewry" and are satisfied with Dreyfus being degraded and exiled, with some even actively trying to sweep Picquart's investigation under the rug.

* ArmiesAreEvil: Picquart is pretty much the only military figure who truly wants to stand for justice and honesty in the case of Dreyfus. Most of the others believe in antisemitic conspiracy theories and want the army to remain "clean" and the very idea of another scandal hitting it prompts them to churn out lies, fake proofs and cover-ups to maintain the disgrace of Dreyfus.

''An Officer and a Spy'' (French title ''J'accuse'' - "I accuse") is a 2019 historical drama film written and directed by Creator/RomanPolanski and based on the Robert Harris book ''Literature/AnOfficerAndASpy''.

* ArmiesAreEvil: Picquart is pretty much the only military figure who truly wants to stand for justice and honesty in the case of Dreyfus. Most of the others believe in antisemitic conspiracy theories and want the army to remain "clean" and the very idea of another scandal hitting it prompts them to churn out lies, fake proofs and cover-ups.

The film centers on the notorious 19th century Dreyfus Affair. French officer Georges Picquart (Creator/JeanDujardin) is appointed chief of the army's intelligence section (Deuxième Bureau, service de renseignement militaire) in 1895. He discovers that doctored evidence was used to convict Alfred Dreyfus (Louis Garrel), one of the few Jewish members of the French Army's general staff (in which antisemitic conspiracy theories abund), of passing military secrets to the German Empire. Picquart risks his career and his life, struggling for a decade to expose the truth and liberate the wrongly convicted Dreyfus from the Devil's Island prison.

* ClearMyName: Alfred Dreyfus and his family want to clear his name. Then Georges Picquart and several lawyers, politicians and journalists enter the fray to make the scandal known to the public and prove his innocence.

''An Officer and a Spy'' (French title ''J'accuse'') is a 2019 historical drama film written and directed by Creator/RomanPolanski and based on the Robert Harris book ''Literature/AnOfficerAndASpy''.

The film centers on the notorious 19th century Dreyfus Affair. French officer Georges Picquart (Creator/JeanDujardin) is appointed chief of the army's intelligence section (Deuxième Bureau, service de renseignement militaire) in 1895. He discovers that doctored evidence was used to convict Alfred Dreyfus (Louis Garrel), one of the few Jewish members of the French Army's general staff, of passing military secrets to the German Empire. Picquart risks his career and his life, struggling for a decade to expose the truth and liberate the wrongly convicted Dreyfus from the Devil's Island prison.