Jean Bart. Time is everything
Feature Film (r. 01_EN – 116 pages)
Drama – Historical – Inspired by real events
Text in English
Characters: 7 main characters (37 with at least one line of dialogue, 13 with lines in at least five scenes)
Locations: 61 total (20 used in at least three scenes)
Period: 1939-1940
Locations of the story: Saint-Nazaire (shipyards), Paris, Sens, French countryside
Legal deposit: Patamu Registry
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Synopsis
In late 1939, Pierre-Jean Ronarc’h is appointed commander of the battleship Jean Bart. The ship is still under construction at the Saint-Nazaire shipyards, and its completion was scheduled for early 1941. However, the war, which had pitted France against Germany since September ’39, forces an acceleration of the timeline. Ronarc’h is, therefore, assigned the task of ensuring the Jean Bart would be at sea by October 1940.
With the help of Vice-Commander Rodellec, Engineer Gasquet, and foreman Camaret, construction progresses so rapidly that, by April, Ronarc’h could announce that the Jean Bart would be ready before the Germans could deploy the imposing battleship Bismarck. Just a few days later, however, the invasion and rapid advance of the German army on French soil dramatically changes the situation: the Saint-Nazaire shipyards came within range of German bombers, and the Nazi army could reach them as early as July.
Completing six months’ worth of work in just one month is clearly impossible. Engineer Gasquet devises an emergency plan to save the Jean Bart: by installing only the bare essentials, the battleship could set sail on June 20th. Everyone is called to action, and the race against time began.