13 Days in France

The strength of 13 Days in France, as of other freewheeling French films of the period, lies in its intimacy—the skiers concentrating in a world of their own, President Charles de Gaulle courteously waving aside a rug being offered during the Opening Ceremony, Prime Minister Georges Pompidou being interviewed with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. The film pulses with the insouciant spirit of the sixties and the carefree cinematography and editing pioneered by the French New Wave.