'Un amour à taire' (A LOVE TO HIDE) is one of the more satisfying films to be released in a long time. From the writing by Pascal Fontanille and Samantha Mazeras, the direction by Christian Faure and a cast of gifted actors immersed in their roles, this story of love's survival in Nazi occupied Paris in World War II has many permutations and secrets not addressed before. This is one of those films that should be widely distributed and marketed for the large audience it is meant to address and inform.
Set in 1942 in occupied France, the Lavandier family - father Armand (Michel Jonasz), mother Marcelle (Charlotte de Turckheim), and son Jean (the gifted and handsome actor Jérémie Renier from 'L'Enfant', etc.) runs a laundry that successfully services all Parisians and even takes in the obligatory Nazi customers. Jean is the main helper and his father's idol: the other member of the family is Jean's younger brother Jacques (Nicolas Gob, an actor of ruggedly handsome good looks and talent) who is imprisoned for a year for trafficking stolen goods from the homes of Jewish families sent to the camps.
As the film opens we see young Sarah Morgenstern (Louise Monot) emerge from hiding in a house confinement that resulted in the Nazi slaughter of her family. Terrified, she seeks refuge with Jean, an old friend and flame from their childhood, as she has nowhere else to hide. Jean takes her in, gives her a job in the laundry, and arranges for her to live with Jean's lover of four years Philippe (Bruno Todeschini, the fine and handsome actor remembered for his role in 'Son frère'). Jean and Philippe understand the dangers of hiding a Jew: Philippe also understands the conflict of Jean's love for Sarah, platonic but real, and fears Sarah's injured feelings discovering Jean is gay. But the three become closely bonded.
In times of war, crises occur too frequently: Jean is seen dancing with a Nazi officer in a local gay pub he is attending with Philippe; Jacques is released from prison and falls in love with Sarah while continuing his underground life of criminal activity; the Jews of Paris are rounded up and sent to concentration camps (Sarah must pose as one 'Yvonne Brunner' with papers supplied by Philippe to avoid discovery); Jacques is thwarted by Sarah's continued love for Jean, rebuffing Jacques' advances; Jacques informs on Jean to prove to his parents that golden boy Jean is in fact gay; Jean is arrested but the arrest turns to horror when his sexuality is discovered and he is beaten and sent to jails and eventually the concentration camp in Dachau, brandished with the pink triangle forced upon gays the way the yellow star was forced upon Jews to segregate them and mark them for extermination.
The manner in which each of the family members deals with Jean's crisis forms the dénouement of the film: Philippe is exterminated, Sarah and Jacques marry and have a son named Jean, and the parents alter their views of the idiosyncrasies of their children when Jean is released at the end of the war a lobotomized zombie. The ending is breathless and difficult to watch.
Films such as this could stumble on the clods of poor taste or sensationalism, but this film avoids all that and instead brandishes a script that is intelligent, powerful, understated, and immensely moving. The cast is absolutely brilliant and the production fully realizes the look, the sound, and the feeling of Paris under Nazi occupation. This is one of the more moving films this viewer has ever seen: it will be added to the personal library for sure. Grady Harp
Set in 1942 in occupied France, the Lavandier family - father Armand (Michel Jonasz), mother Marcelle (Charlotte de Turckheim), and son Jean (the gifted and handsome actor Jérémie Renier from 'L'Enfant', etc.) runs a laundry that successfully services all Parisians and even takes in the obligatory Nazi customers. Jean is the main helper and his father's idol: the other member of the family is Jean's younger brother Jacques (Nicolas Gob, an actor of ruggedly handsome good looks and talent) who is imprisoned for a year for trafficking stolen goods from the homes of Jewish families sent to the camps.
As the film opens we see young Sarah Morgenstern (Louise Monot) emerge from hiding in a house confinement that resulted in the Nazi slaughter of her family. Terrified, she seeks refuge with Jean, an old friend and flame from their childhood, as she has nowhere else to hide. Jean takes her in, gives her a job in the laundry, and arranges for her to live with Jean's lover of four years Philippe (Bruno Todeschini, the fine and handsome actor remembered for his role in 'Son frère'). Jean and Philippe understand the dangers of hiding a Jew: Philippe also understands the conflict of Jean's love for Sarah, platonic but real, and fears Sarah's injured feelings discovering Jean is gay. But the three become closely bonded.
In times of war, crises occur too frequently: Jean is seen dancing with a Nazi officer in a local gay pub he is attending with Philippe; Jacques is released from prison and falls in love with Sarah while continuing his underground life of criminal activity; the Jews of Paris are rounded up and sent to concentration camps (Sarah must pose as one 'Yvonne Brunner' with papers supplied by Philippe to avoid discovery); Jacques is thwarted by Sarah's continued love for Jean, rebuffing Jacques' advances; Jacques informs on Jean to prove to his parents that golden boy Jean is in fact gay; Jean is arrested but the arrest turns to horror when his sexuality is discovered and he is beaten and sent to jails and eventually the concentration camp in Dachau, brandished with the pink triangle forced upon gays the way the yellow star was forced upon Jews to segregate them and mark them for extermination.
The manner in which each of the family members deals with Jean's crisis forms the dénouement of the film: Philippe is exterminated, Sarah and Jacques marry and have a son named Jean, and the parents alter their views of the idiosyncrasies of their children when Jean is released at the end of the war a lobotomized zombie. The ending is breathless and difficult to watch.
Films such as this could stumble on the clods of poor taste or sensationalism, but this film avoids all that and instead brandishes a script that is intelligent, powerful, understated, and immensely moving. The cast is absolutely brilliant and the production fully realizes the look, the sound, and the feeling of Paris under Nazi occupation. This is one of the more moving films this viewer has ever seen: it will be added to the personal library for sure. Grady Harp