In spite of having an empire that was second only to Britain's by 1914, the French people remained mostly unconvinced by and mistrustful of the colonial idea. There is no better proof of this than the French colonial films between 1918 and 1945 which depicted the empire in a particularly unattractive way while seemingly advocating the colonial cause. The paradox is all the more surprising given that the negative image that emerges from the films made in France around the colonial theme was not the manifestation of an anti-colonialism subtly disguised to avoid governmental censorship, but the mere expression of the general feeling of the French about their colonies. The lack of Gallic enthusiasm for the empire translated on screen into an intrinsic mistrust for what was regarded as the epitome of danger and despair.

尽管在 1914 年拥有一个仅次于英国的帝国，但法国人民仍然对殖民理念不信服和不信任。没有比 1918 年至 1945 年间的法国殖民电影更能证明这一点的了，这些电影以一种特别不吸引人的方式描绘了帝国，同时似乎在倡导殖民事业。鉴于法国制作的围绕殖民主题的电影所呈现的负面形象并不是为了避免政府审查而巧妙掩饰的反殖民主义表现，而仅仅是表达了法国人谈论他们的殖民地。高卢人对帝国缺乏热情在银幕上转化为对被视为危险和绝望缩影的内在不信任。