Sarah's Key

Sarah’s Key

I saw this film last year at the Toronto International Film Festival. I still think about it and the great emotional impact that it had. Apparently the book is also a good read. This is another holocaust film with a different twist.
The film grips you right from the beginning.
Two delightful children are playing in bed. There is that awful knock on the door. This is France in July 1942. The mother is told to pack enough for 3 days. Sarah tells her younger brother to hide in the closet and she will return as soon as possible. The family is taken away and the younger brother is in the closet.
Many think it was the Nazis that were doing this horrible work. In this case the greater shame is that the ‘evil ones; were the French police. They actually rounded up over 13,000 Jews and took them to an outdoor stadium. The conditions were horrendous and they were later transported to a concentration camp. This part of the story was obviously hard to watch.
There is a parallel story in the film. Julia Jarmond is a reporter living in Paris. Her husband is French. He suggests that she write an article about the Jews being rounded up by the French police. The anniversary of that event is approaching so her editor gives her permission to write the article.
Jarmond researches the incident and talks to survivors. She learns that her attractive apartment was actually in the district that was involved. Her husband’s mother actually took over the vacant apartment left by Sarah’s family. What a coincidence.
The actual historical account is very emotional and difficult. The story of the reporter is also emotional in a different way.
There is suspense as we learn more about Sarah’s plight. The film seemed to hit me from all angles.
Of course you want to know about the brother in the closet. You will discover the truth during the film.
The reporter publishes her article. She states,” How do you know what you would have done?”
At the Q & A following the film I learned that the director’s father lost his family in holocaust.
Someone asked why the sound level was so high at peak emotional times. The answer was given that people who survived remembered the noise and noise had meaning for them. The director wanted chaos when the mother and child were separated.
The director refused to answer a political question. He stated that he didn’t want to tell the audience what to think.
The director stated that he wanted Sarah to be a symbol of suffering.
You won’t forget this film. I am still upset one year later.