2010 by Gilles Paquet-Brenner - French movie, with lots of English too
Sometimes I wonder, what would have the movie makers done if there was no Hitler. Hitler's atrocities, against the Jews, looks like the favourite theme for movie makers from the west. I am not holding anything against the Jews or their suffering during Hitlers reign. But it does not look fair when movie makers ignore equally horrible sufferings by other communities or group of people across the world. Or in other words, there are only very very few attempts at portraying the sufferings of people elsewhere, like the Battle of Algiers or Hotel Rwanda, to name a couple. In fact, when a movie was made in Turkey immediately after the American invasion of Iraq, about the fate of Iraqis, the west did everything possible to ensure that the movie will not be seen by the outside world. Using the dream of Turkey to enter into the European union, they even managed to ban that movie in Turkey.
It is may be the second movie in 2010, which is based on the same incident, the infamous Vel dHiv roundups of 1942. And may be there are many more movies, in 2010/11 itself, about which I dont know at all. In fact I saw La Rafle only few weeks before.
An American journalist married to a French man has to make an article on the Vel dHiv roundup and she accidentally realises that the apartment which her husband has inherited and into which they are just about to move, belonged to a Jewish family who suffered in 1942. She starts tracing the story through a little girl Sarah, who managed to escape the Nazi camp.
For sure, the movie has lots of touching moments, which shows the suffering of the innocent people during the round up. Sarah the little girl, who managed to escape the Nazi camp and Julia, the American journalist, are the two leading characters, the latter searching for the former, the movie take us through two different periods in time. Julia's life has its own problems as she is pregnant and her French husband does not want to be an old father.
Basically, it is like there are three stories here. The story of Sarah, immediately after the round ups in 1942, the search for Sarah by Julia and Julia's personal story involving her husband and daughter. And I am not sure if the script really managed to hold all this together. Even during the first half, when the movie looks much better, the scenes of 1942 and the present criss cross a lot in a rapid way that it is almost annoying. But towards the second half, it turns even poor and does not look really professional at all. Too much melodrama, which is even amateurish at times with terrible performances, too much cliches and all. In fact, it looks more like an ordinary Hollywood movie than a French movie. It does not have the charm of even average French movies I would say. The performance of couple of actors, especially the son of Sarah, was really poor. If not for Kristin Scott Thomas, who plays Julia, the second half would have been really bohring, I am afraid.
On the same issue, La Rafle looks a much better movie.
Sometimes I wonder, what would have the movie makers done if there was no Hitler. Hitler's atrocities, against the Jews, looks like the favourite theme for movie makers from the west. I am not holding anything against the Jews or their suffering during Hitlers reign. But it does not look fair when movie makers ignore equally horrible sufferings by other communities or group of people across the world. Or in other words, there are only very very few attempts at portraying the sufferings of people elsewhere, like the Battle of Algiers or Hotel Rwanda, to name a couple. In fact, when a movie was made in Turkey immediately after the American invasion of Iraq, about the fate of Iraqis, the west did everything possible to ensure that the movie will not be seen by the outside world. Using the dream of Turkey to enter into the European union, they even managed to ban that movie in Turkey.
It is may be the second movie in 2010, which is based on the same incident, the infamous Vel dHiv roundups of 1942. And may be there are many more movies, in 2010/11 itself, about which I dont know at all. In fact I saw La Rafle only few weeks before.
An American journalist married to a French man has to make an article on the Vel dHiv roundup and she accidentally realises that the apartment which her husband has inherited and into which they are just about to move, belonged to a Jewish family who suffered in 1942. She starts tracing the story through a little girl Sarah, who managed to escape the Nazi camp.
For sure, the movie has lots of touching moments, which shows the suffering of the innocent people during the round up. Sarah the little girl, who managed to escape the Nazi camp and Julia, the American journalist, are the two leading characters, the latter searching for the former, the movie take us through two different periods in time. Julia's life has its own problems as she is pregnant and her French husband does not want to be an old father.
Basically, it is like there are three stories here. The story of Sarah, immediately after the round ups in 1942, the search for Sarah by Julia and Julia's personal story involving her husband and daughter. And I am not sure if the script really managed to hold all this together. Even during the first half, when the movie looks much better, the scenes of 1942 and the present criss cross a lot in a rapid way that it is almost annoying. But towards the second half, it turns even poor and does not look really professional at all. Too much melodrama, which is even amateurish at times with terrible performances, too much cliches and all. In fact, it looks more like an ordinary Hollywood movie than a French movie. It does not have the charm of even average French movies I would say. The performance of couple of actors, especially the son of Sarah, was really poor. If not for Kristin Scott Thomas, who plays Julia, the second half would have been really bohring, I am afraid.
On the same issue, La Rafle looks a much better movie.
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