Old friends among those who stay behind are eventually torn apart. Some collaborate, some resist - many make do as they can, and others pay for their commitment with their lives. When the war at last is over, Paris reawakens to find that an astonishing work has been created from within its war-torn midst : the film "Les Enfants du paradis ", an homage to freedom written by Jacques Prévert and masterfully directed by Marcel Carné.