Between the beginnings of the Swiss feature length movies in the 30ies and the middle of the 50ies, the cinematographic landscape was practically ruled by three directors alone: Franz Schnyder, Leopold Lindtberg, and Hermann Haller. While the latter had been mostly classified as "artistic collaborator", "assistant director" or even only "cutter", especially Schnyder's movies were famous and infamous at the same time for the strong propagandistic style. While this is true for most of Schnyder's later works, the often heard criticism at "Gilberte De Courgenay" is not just. First, one is astonished to hear the sentence given in the title out of the mouth of Kanonier Hasler ("The war that YOU (i.e. the old generation) have started"), then, generally, what we see about the discipline of the Swiss army is anything else than great: Besides the parade towards the end, brought up to give Mr. Odermatt the chance to change his opinion about the discipline in the army, we see the soldiers almost exclusively drinking in the railway-station restaurant in Courgenay. Although they are in charge, Hasler says in one episode that in the morning, he drank a whole bottle of schnapps. The only time when the soldiers are shown out in the field, they are served tea with cognac by Tilly. So what the basic purpose of this movie nowadays is, is to serve as a collection of all those nice and funny little episodes that ancient military colleagues use to tell one another to the hundredth time, when sitting in the restaurants and glorifying the "good old times". If one is able to look away from this so-called Froentler-Mentality, one should let this film live (it is shown once a year by the Swiss National TV) and enjoy to meet again all those great actors who dominated the Swiss film scene during decades, such as Anne-Marie Blanc, Erwin Kohlund, Zarli Carigiet, Heinrich Gretler, Schaggi Streuli, Max Knapp, Rudolf Bernhard ... .

Gilberte de Courgenay was Gilberte Montavon (1896-1957), but she was also Anne-Marie Blanc who passed away just a few days ago (5.2.2009). While the real Gilberte was a server in the Railway Station Restaurant of Courgenay, on the Swiss side at the French border, and got immortalized (in Switzerland) by one of the soldiers who defended Switzerland during World Word I, the music ethnologist and singer Hanns in der Gand (1882-1947) who wrote this famous song that every Swiss knows, the actress Anne-Marie Blanc who played the real Gilberte was further identified with this famous song that is sung in the movie by Erwin Kohlund who played cannonier Hasler.Cannonier Hasler has a fiancée, Tilly, and her father is the rich hotelier Odermatt. When Hasler gets the call from the army to defend Switzerland (remark that military service has been always compulsory in Switzerland), he writes Tilly letter after letter, but never gets an answer. While he is sitting sad in the Railways Station Restaurant of Courgenay, Gilberte falls in love for him. He who plays basically the role that in reality played In der Gand, composes this famous song and breaks so down the last barriers between him and Gilberte. She organizes even a Christmas party for all those soldiers who are not allowed to join their relatives but have to stay in defense. However, meanwhile, a comrade of Hasler is commanded to go to Berne because of a sick horse and thereby finds out that Tilly's father held back Hasler's letters. Tilly takes the next train to Courgenaye and just arrives in the Railway Station Restaurant when the soldiers are starting the Gilberte-de-Courgenay-Song. When Gilberte realizes what is happening, she renounces of Hasler, although showing tears in her eyes.Gilberte is the type of the soldier-mother like there have been several in Europe - Katherina Lanz was the most famous -, she cares for the needs of "her" soldiers and sometimes scolds them for not eagerly enough following their patriotic duties. Therefore, she incorporates the ideal woman-type of the "Geistige Landesverteidigung" (intranslatable: "Mental State-Defense"), as a sensitive, empathic, serving supporter of her husband being strong herself and never crying. This is not propaganda, but the creation of a hopeful counter-reality in dark times.

This film tells a very light story of a charming and helpful young woman who lived in Courgenay, a Swiss village near to the French border, during World War I. I think when you watch this movie it is quite useful to have some background informations on Switzerland during World War II. In 1941 the country was completely surrounded by the German and Italian territories, Hitler was still very successful and the Swiss feared an attack of the Germans nearly every day. And even inside Switzerland itself there was a lot of Nazi propaganda trying to wear down the people and so to get them to join the Nazi Germany voluntary. So the purpose of this film was to shake the swiss people up to keep their ideologies of freedom and independence. It is done by showing them the Swiss soldiers during World War I, who were in a very similar situation. But their efforts were rewarded by the awareness of having kept Switzerland free from foreign aggressions. And remember, Switzerland was able to get through World War II unharmed. Of course I as a patriotic Swiss like this movie! And with above informations you might as well!