Sarah's Key

“Sarah’s Key” stars Kristin Scott-Thomas, Aidan Quinn and a host of French actors who give superb performances in this tragic tale of a Jewish family removed from their Paris apartment by the then French government in July 1942 and then shipped, like most European Jews, to the concentration camps in mid-Europe. Most striking of all is the performance of Melusine Mayance who portrays the young Sarah caught in the nightmare of what took place in that fateful July. Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner and co-written by the director, Serge Joncour and Taliana de Rosnay, the film plays more like a documentary as you watch the story (or stories) unfold. It has been said that true human tragedy involving large numbers of innocent victims is best told and understood when one character alone is the subject and this bears truth in this film. Sarah’s story touches many lives but is made more vivid and real because of our identification with the central character of the film. I give this film 3 and ½ stars since it not only represents acting and story telling at its finest but, more importantly, it informs the audience of little known but nevertheless horrifying series of events that took place in France where the villains, although expectedly the German occupiers, were, in fact, the French. Viewing this important film is a truly informative and, for want of a better word, entertaining experience. The viewer also wonders the relationship between the director and co-writer Mr. Brenner, with real life occurrences since the end credit of the filmt indicates that it is dedicated to the memory of 4 persons, all having the same last name as the director.