Les amants de l'ombre (2009)

As World War II draws to a close in Europe, American soldiers settle in a French village. Louise falls in love with Gary, a Black soldier, even though she is already married. Her husband has been a prisoner for four years and no longer writes to her. Louise does not know that her mother-in-law is actually intercepting the letters. Her lover is himself married in the United States and has a little daughter. Louise will have to face the racism of those close to her. Blanche, a teenager, is stigmatized in turn for having loved a German soldier. The two women are shorn side by side for their respective offenses: one for sleeping with a German, the other for sleeping with a Black man. Louise’s husband returns from captivity, learns of his wife’s dishonor, and also learns that she is pregnant by her lover. However, he forgives her, and they leave for Paris, where a woman from the village recommends a good place to treat the scars. The film also tells the story of the village postwoman, who grants her favors to another Black soldier, then accuses him of raping her. The American military justice system does not take this kind of crime lightly, and the soldier is hanged. Gary manages to make the postwoman confess that she lied, but too late to save his friend.