History Film / VaincreOuMourir

In the rural area of Vendée, the populations initially welcomed the changes of the French Revolution and its First Republic between 1789 and 1792. By 1793 however, the War of the First Coalition and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy have changed everything, with people starting to resist the draft in the Republic's armies to fight "the enemies of Liberty" (the other monarchies attacking France), and a royalist and Catholic insurgency, the "Catholic and Royal Army", is born.

In the rural area of Vendée, the populations initially welcomed the changes of the French Revolution and its First Republic between 1789 and 1792. By 1793 however, the War of the First Coalition and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy have changed everything, with people starting to resist the draft in the Republic's armies to fight "the enemies of Liberty" (the other monarchies attacking France), and a royalist and Catholic insurgency quickly arises.

* ShotAtDawn: Charette is eventually executed by firing squad.

In the rural area of Vendée, the populations welcomed the initial changes of the French Revolution and its First Republic. By 1793 however, the War of the First Coalition and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy have changed everything, with people starting to resist the draft in the Republic's armies to fight "the enemies of Liberty" (the other monarchies attacking France), and a royalist and Catholic insurgency quickly arises.

''Vaincre ou Mourir'' (a translation would be ''Vanquish or Die'' or ''Defeat or Die'') is a 2023 French historical {{biopic}} film directed by Paul Mignot and Vincent Mottez and written by Mottez. It is produced by the historical {{theme park|s}} Puy du Fou and Creator/StudioCanal and based off the Puy du Fou show ''Le Dernier Panache''.

The film is about the era of UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution known as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_the_Vend%C3%A9e Wars in Vendée]], following the royalist insurgency leader and nobleman [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_de_Charette François Athanase Charette de La Contrie]], better known as simply "Charette".

* CementShoes: There are scenes depicting the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drownings_at_Nantes drownings at Nantes]], in which thousands of people were drowned in the Loire river on the orders of Jean-Baptiste Carrier (who called the river "The National Bathtub") for being "traitors" to the Republic or simply not being zealous enough towards it. People are seen being tied to weights and thrown in the river.

* CivilWar: One opposing two kinds of French people -- the royalists who didn't emigrate and rural Vendeans who wish for things to return as they were under the monarchy prior to the changes of the Revolution that were forced upon them, and those who embrace the revolutionary Republic.

* OffWithHisHead: The guillotine is put at work aplenty during the ReignOfTerror, though always with a GoryDiscretionShot and a bloodied guillotine blade afterwards.

''Vaincre ou Mourir'' (a translation would be ''Vanquish or Die'' or ''Defeat or Die'') is a 2023 French historical {{biopic}} film directed by Paul Mignot and Vincent Mottez and written by Mottez. It is produced by the historical {{theme park|s}} Puy du Fou and Creator/StudioCanal. It is based off the Puy du Fou show ''Le Dernier Panache''.

* AuthorTract: The Puy du Fou theme park (which produced the film) is all about a certain vision of history that doesn't always match how the field is treated in France since it was founded by politician Philippe de Villiers, who has great sympathy for traditionalist Catholics, reactionaries, royalists and the like (and wrote a book about Charette). The film certainly aims at highlighting the ReignOfTerror as a major component of the French Revolution (and the biggest stain on French republicanism) as a whole and treats its protagonist as a heroic figure fighting for a lost cause till the end.

In the rural area of Vendée, the populations welcomed the initial changes of the French Revolution and its First Republic. In 1793, the War of the First Coalition and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy change everything, with people starting to resist the draft in the Republic's armies to fight "the enemies of Liberty" (the other monarchies attacking France), and a royalist and Catholic insurgency quickly arises.

''Vaincre ou Mourir'' (a translation would be ''Vanquish or Die'' or ''Defeat or Die'') is a 2023 French historical {{biopic}} film directed by Paul Mignot and Vincent Mottez and written by Mottez. It is produced by the historical {{theme park|s}} Puy du Fou and Creator/StudioCanal.

* {{Conscription}}: The trigger of the insurgency is people in Vendée who refuse to enlist in the Republic's armies to go fighting (and probably dying) against the forces of UsefulNotes/AllTheLittleGermanies and UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}. The conscription is felt as too much for them after the Republic has already reduced the power of the Catholic Church in the country and beheaded their King, UsefulNotes/LouisXVI.

* AuthorTract: The Puy du Fou theme park (which produced the film) is all about a certain vision of history that doesn't always match how the field is treated in France since it was founded by politician Philippe de Villiers, who has great sympathy for traditionalist Catholics, reactionaries, royalists and the like (and wrote a book about Charette). The film certainly highlights the ReignOfTerror as a major component of the French Revolution (and the biggest stain on French republicanism) as a whole.

François Athanase Charette de La Contrie, a French navy commander who's distinguished himself fighting in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, is asked by said insurgency to lead them against the armies of the Republic, and he takes the mantle, unflinchingly dedicating his life to the royalist cause from that point on. In turn, the Republic responds by sending its "Infernal Columns", committing numerous atrocities on the local populations to crush the insurgency. Charette soon has to use guerilla tactics against them.

* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Charette has a dream in which he talks to the son of King UsefulNotes/LouisXVI, Louis XVII, who was imprisoned at the Temple Prison in Paris at the time. The next day, he receives a letter announcing Louis XVII's death, and the insurgency restarts after the frahile peace.

* CivilWar: One opposing two kinds of French people -- the rural Vendeans who wish for things to return as they were under the monarchy prior to the changes of the Revolution that are forced upon them, and those who embrace the revolutionary Republic.

* CementShoes: There are scenes depicting the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drownings_at_Nantes drownings at Nantes]], in which thousands of people were drowned in the Loire river on the orders of Jean-Baptiste Carrier (who called the river "The National Bathtub") for being "traitors" to the Republic or simply not being zealous enough towards it.

* LaResistance: The insurgency of Vendée (and that of the Chouans up north) resisted the First French Republic's measures against the Catholic Church and resisted the draft initially, which led them to reject the Revolution's changed and the Republic responded with increasing violence and atrocities. The film clearly doesn't go the GreyAndGrayMorality route regarding the Republic and depicts Vendeans as resistants against it.

!!''Vaincre Ou Mourir'' provides examples of the following tropes:

In the rural area of Vendée, the populations welcomed the initial changes of the French Revolution and its First Republic. In 1793, the War of the First Coalition and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy change everything, with people starting to resist the draft in the Republic's armies to fight "the enemies of Liberty" (the other monarchies attacking France), and a royalist and Catholic insurgency quickly arises. François Athanase Charette de La Contrie, a French navy commander who's distinguished himself fighting in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, is asked by said insurgency to lead them against the armies of the Republic, and he takes the mantle, unflinchingly dedicating his life to their cause from that point on.

In the rural area of Vendée, the populations welcomed the initial changes of the French Revolution and its First Republic. The War of the First Coalition and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy changed everything, with people starting to resist the draft in the Republic's armies to fight "the enemies of Liberty", and a royalist and Catholic insurgency quickly arises. François Athanase Charette de La Contrie, a French navy commander who's distinguished himself fighting in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, is asked by said insurgency to lead them against the armies of the Republic.

The film is about the era of UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution known as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_the_Vend%C3%A9e Wars in Vendée Wars]], following the royalist insurgency leader and nobleman [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_de_Charette François Athanase Charette de La Contrie]], better known as simply "Charette".