Sarah's Key (B or 3/4 stars)
'Sarah's Key' (based on a popular French novel & directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner), starring Kristin Scott Thomas as an American journalist living in Paris, goes back & forth btwn. events in 2011 & what happened 69 yrs. earlier during the city's notorious Velodrome d'Hiver roundup; an event that is little known, and for many years ... was not uttered about in France. On 7/16/42, French officials/police, NOT Germans, rounded up 13,000 Jews & herded them under atrocious conditions in one of Paris' indoor bicycle-racing tracks before dispatching them to a transitional camp & ultimately, Auschwitz (the gravity of this event was not acknowledged until '95, when Pres. Jacques Chriac formally apologized for French complicity).
The film opens on that fateful day (7/16/42) with the Starzynski family being dispossessed & rounded up under terrifying circumstances. 10 yr. old Sarah (a great Melusine Mayance) impulsively instructs her 4 yr. old brother to hide in a secret bedroom cupboard. And she locks him in; telling him not to leave 'til she comes back to get him. This movie is at its best in detailing what happens to Sarah & her parents over the next few days; starting with the horrible situation both at the Velodrome d'Hiver (in conditions worse than what the New Orleanians experienced in the dome after Katrina), & the transit camp at Beaune-la-Rolande, where Sarah & her parents are sent. Chaos, violence & terror are conveyed extremely well in the transit camp sequences; all shot with a handheld camera to increase dramatic intensity. Watching husbands, wives & children be torn apart amid the chaos had me on edge.
These Holocaust sequences don't come all at once, however. They alternate with those set in 2011, involving said journalist, Julia Jarmond (KS Thomas); who persuades her magazine to let her do a story on the 1942 events. Thanks to her astute researching, she discovers that her husband's family has a direct connection to the apartment that the Starzynski's were evacuated from 69 yrs. passed. And she becomes understandably entwined/obsessed with finding out what her family's role may have been in the long-ago horrors, as well as what happened to 10 yr. old Sarah & her hidden brother.
Though Kristin Scott Thomas is a British actress, she plays a New Yorkian transplanted to Paris; speaking with both an American accent, and in French. She is as lovely & convincing (in her roles) as ever. And her work in this film - while not awards-worthy - goes a long way in making me enjoy the film, more so. Now, as far as her character is concerned, we (the audience) can't help but share Julia's determination to find the truth about Sarah. That gives us incentive to keep watching. The film says something about France. It says something about keeping true stories alive; so that other generations won't forget the atrocities & joys of the past. However, as far as the 2011 scenes go, stellar acting or not, the writing/directing of them could have been better. Also, the mystery of Sarah's key is resolved fairly early on in the narrative; so the film's eventual segue into a meditation on grief has a slightly anticlimactic feel.
But I don't want to get too negative, here. The film gathers momentum as it goes (always a good thing); with heavy plot incident, family secrets, lies, & charismatic characters (played by the wonderful Niels Arestrup, Dominique Frot, & Aidan Quinn). This is a small, inexpensive film. But it covers so much; accumulating more power than you'd imagine. Melusine Mayance's performance as Sarah is strong; especially considering her age & the material she had to handle. Sarah's story is a harrowing one (the camp, survivalist details, attempts to escape & get home to unlock her brother from the cupboard). And while what happens to her and her family didn't 'please me' - it made me 'feel' - which is better yet. Overall, though some of the 2011 scenes fall flat, the tasteful 'Sarah's Key' tells a tense & moving individual story of tragedy; not only for those in '42, but for those whom the aftershocks of the '42 events have changed indefinitely.
The film opens on that fateful day (7/16/42) with the Starzynski family being dispossessed & rounded up under terrifying circumstances. 10 yr. old Sarah (a great Melusine Mayance) impulsively instructs her 4 yr. old brother to hide in a secret bedroom cupboard. And she locks him in; telling him not to leave 'til she comes back to get him. This movie is at its best in detailing what happens to Sarah & her parents over the next few days; starting with the horrible situation both at the Velodrome d'Hiver (in conditions worse than what the New Orleanians experienced in the dome after Katrina), & the transit camp at Beaune-la-Rolande, where Sarah & her parents are sent. Chaos, violence & terror are conveyed extremely well in the transit camp sequences; all shot with a handheld camera to increase dramatic intensity. Watching husbands, wives & children be torn apart amid the chaos had me on edge.
These Holocaust sequences don't come all at once, however. They alternate with those set in 2011, involving said journalist, Julia Jarmond (KS Thomas); who persuades her magazine to let her do a story on the 1942 events. Thanks to her astute researching, she discovers that her husband's family has a direct connection to the apartment that the Starzynski's were evacuated from 69 yrs. passed. And she becomes understandably entwined/obsessed with finding out what her family's role may have been in the long-ago horrors, as well as what happened to 10 yr. old Sarah & her hidden brother.
Though Kristin Scott Thomas is a British actress, she plays a New Yorkian transplanted to Paris; speaking with both an American accent, and in French. She is as lovely & convincing (in her roles) as ever. And her work in this film - while not awards-worthy - goes a long way in making me enjoy the film, more so. Now, as far as her character is concerned, we (the audience) can't help but share Julia's determination to find the truth about Sarah. That gives us incentive to keep watching. The film says something about France. It says something about keeping true stories alive; so that other generations won't forget the atrocities & joys of the past. However, as far as the 2011 scenes go, stellar acting or not, the writing/directing of them could have been better. Also, the mystery of Sarah's key is resolved fairly early on in the narrative; so the film's eventual segue into a meditation on grief has a slightly anticlimactic feel.
But I don't want to get too negative, here. The film gathers momentum as it goes (always a good thing); with heavy plot incident, family secrets, lies, & charismatic characters (played by the wonderful Niels Arestrup, Dominique Frot, & Aidan Quinn). This is a small, inexpensive film. But it covers so much; accumulating more power than you'd imagine. Melusine Mayance's performance as Sarah is strong; especially considering her age & the material she had to handle. Sarah's story is a harrowing one (the camp, survivalist details, attempts to escape & get home to unlock her brother from the cupboard). And while what happens to her and her family didn't 'please me' - it made me 'feel' - which is better yet. Overall, though some of the 2011 scenes fall flat, the tasteful 'Sarah's Key' tells a tense & moving individual story of tragedy; not only for those in '42, but for those whom the aftershocks of the '42 events have changed indefinitely.