Gramps Is in the Resistance

Héléna Bourdelle, a world-renowned opera singer, lives with her husband, maestro André Bourdelle, their three grown children—Bernadette, Colette and Guy-Hubert—and André's father, Gramps, in a luxurious Parisian townhouse. The family enjoys a comfortable, cultured existence amid Paris's high society. Their life is upended when Nazi forces invade and France falls under occupation.

During the Occupation, André becomes a leader of a Resistance cell. His fate is sealed by an accidental grenade explosion that kills him during a perilous operation.

Two years after André's death, the German authorities requisition the Bourdelle mansion to house General Hermann Spontz. The family is forced to live in the cellar, enduring cramped conditions and constant harassment from the occupiers. The house becomes a magnet for resistance activity and German scrutiny.

In the Kommandantur, Madame Bourdelle, Bernadette, and Michel Taupin help a British RAF airman escape and hide him in the family's cellar. Their courage places them in direct danger as the German authorities tighten their grip on Paris. The act deepens their involvement in the resistance.

Michel Taupin woos Bernadette, after an earlier interest in Colette. His stubborn willingness to join the Resistance pulls him into a series of risky adventures and tense encounters.

After the Kommandantur episode, Michel is imprisoned. In his cell, he meets Felix, a resistant who trusts him, assuming Michel will be executed. They are freed by a mysterious vigilante known as Super-Resistant.

Adolfo Ramirez, a former Paris Opera caretaker turned Gestapo agent, becomes the Bourdelles' relentless pursuer. Ramirez uses every opportunity to punish them for their defiance and intimate ties to the resistance.

Ramirez discovers that Guy-Hubert, the seemingly cowardly and effeminate hairdresser, is in fact Super-Resistant and the mastermind behind Felix's operations. General Spontz refuses to believe the revelation, clinging to his loyalties and suspicions. The truth remains perilously hidden from most, while danger continues to loom.

Héléna is compelled to attend a reception celebrating von Apfelstrudel, Hitler's half-brother, held in a castle near Paris. The Resistance tries to plant a bomb in the dining room to strike at the German high command. The operation fails, and the Bourdelles and Taupin fear arrest until Super-Resistant arrives to turn the tide.

The apparent ending of the story reveals itself as a film within a film, giving way to a contemporary television debate about the occupation and its portrayal. Super-Resistant coordinates the capture of von Apfelstrudel and the German generals with the help of Gramps and his allies.

The narrative shifts to a modern television program reflecting on the occupation and how it is depicted. The panel includes Bernadette Bourdelle, General Spontz (now married to Bernadette), Guy-Hubert, Adolfo Ramirez Jr. (Ramirez's son), and Michel Taupin (now Minister of Veterans Affairs). Tensions rise as memories collide with present-day politics.

Ramirez Jr. insults and defames the other protagonists, sparking a physical altercation on the TV set. The host is forced to cut transmission as the confrontation escalates into a disaster. The past and present collide in a blunt, uncomfortable finale.