Historical moments in France and Russia led to a new degree of freedom of expression for filmmakers of the time. During majority of the 1960’s in France there was a heavy presence of the “Gaullist Myth” of the Resistance at stated that France as a nation resisted the Nazi’s. In May of 1968, the atmosphere of the nation changed due to student protests and riots against the authoritarian system of education and the government. Also, de Gaulle left office in 1969. These pivotal events allowed films like L’Armee des Ombres to confront different views and opinions of the Resistance movement. This film contrasts the “Gaullist Myth,” that all of France participated in resisting the Nazi’s, by focusing on a small group of the Resistance throughout the entire film. Films like this were now allowed to confront and accuse collaborators, which was unheard of before 1968-69. The master narrative after these events changed from everyone resisted to few people resisted and many collaborated.

On the other hand in Russia in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the ideas of Perestroika and Glasnost, otherwise known as restructuring and openness respectively. Due to these events, the government became more decentralized, which led to less censorship. The film Detskii Sad (reflects the new areas that were explored due to the events of 1985. In this film, artistic experimentation plays a bigger role than in films before. The film also expressed nudity, crime, featured Gypsies and Jews, while presenting a new view of patriotism. Since this film focused on Russia fighting in a war, the new patriotism was for Russia as a whole instead of just the Soviet Union. Gorbachev, Perestroika, and Glasnost allowed filmmakers to change the master narrative from Soviet patriotism to Russian patriotism.