Justin le Juste: a film inspired by a novel, not by a true story
According to AlloCiné, the film Justin le Juste is not based on a true story but on Jean Pompougnac's novel.
According to AlloCiné, the historical drama Justin le Juste, directed by Éric Barbier and starring Alban Ivanov and Birane Ba, is set in the trenches of World War I, but the character Justin never existed. The feature film is based on the novel Justin-le-Juste ou La charrette by Jean Pompougnac, published in 1967, and is a very loose adaptation: the journalist played by Alexandra Lamy and the character Basile, who is absent from the book, are added.
The film nevertheless uses documented reality: between 1914 and 1918, 639 French soldiers were executed "as an example" by war councils, especially in the early years of the conflict, according to AlloCiné.