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DramaWar

Sarah's Key

- Uncover the mystery.

On the night of 16 July 1942, ten year old Sarah and her parents are being arrested and transported to the Velodrome d'Hiver in Paris where thousands of other jews are being sent to get deported. Sarah however managed to lock her little brother in a closet just before the police entered their apartment. Sixty years later, Julia Jarmond, an American journalist in Paris, gets the assignment to write an article about this raid, a black page in the history of France. She starts digging archives and through Sarah's file discovers a well kept secret about her own in-laws.

Release Date : 2010-09-16

Language :GermanEnglishFrenchItalianYiddish

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : A Plus ImageHugo ProductionsStudio 37TF1 Droits AudiovisuelsFrance 2 CinémaTPS StarLa Région Île-de-FranceCanal+France Télévisions

Production Country : France

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Kristin Scott Thomas

Character Name : Julia Jarmond

Original Name : Kristin Scott Thomas

Gender : Female

Mélusine Mayance

Character Name : Sarah Starzynski, child

Original Name : Mélusine Mayance

Gender : Female

Niels Arestrup

Character Name : Jules Dufaure

Original Name : Niels Arestrup

Gender : Male

Frédéric Pierrot

Character Name : Bertrand Tezac

Original Name : Frédéric Pierrot

Gender : Male

Michel Duchaussoy

Character Name : Edouard Tezac

Original Name : Michel Duchaussoy

Gender : Male

Dominique Frot

Character Name : Genneviève Dufaure

Original Name : Dominique Frot

Gender : Female

Natasha Mashkevich

Character Name : Rywka Starzynski

Original Name : Natasha Mashkevich

Gender : Female

Gisèle Casadesus

Character Name : Mamé Tezac

Original Name : Gisèle Casadesus

Gender : Female

Aidan Quinn

Character Name : William Rainsferd

Original Name : Aidan Quinn

Gender : Male

Sarah Ber

Character Name : Rachel

Original Name : Sarah Ber

Gender : Female

Arben Bajraktaraj

Character Name : Wladyslaw Starzynski

Original Name : Arben Bajraktaraj

Gender : Male

James Gerard

Character Name : Mike Bambers

Original Name : James Gerard

Gender : Male

Joseph Rezwin

Character Name : Joshua

Original Name : Joseph Rezwin

Gender : Male

Kate Moran

Character Name : Alexandra

Original Name : Kate Moran

Gender : Female

Paul Mercier

Character Name : Michel Starzynski

Original Name : Paul Mercier

Gender : Male

Alexandre Le Provost

Character Name : Plainclothes policeman

Original Name : Alexandre Le Provost

Gender : Male

Serpentine Teyssier

Character Name : Mrs Royer

Original Name : Serpentine Teyssier

Gender : Female

Simon Eine

Character Name : Franck Levy

Original Name : Simon Eine

Gender : Male

Julie Fournier

Character Name : Anna

Original Name : Julie Fournier

Gender : Female

Paige Barr

Character Name : Ornella Harris

Original Name : Paige Barr

Gender : Female

Joanna Merlin

Character Name : Mrs. Rainsferd

Original Name : Joanna Merlin

Gender : Female

George Birt

Character Name : Richard Rainsferd

Original Name : George Birt

Gender : Male

Vinciane Millereau

Character Name : Nathalie Dufaure

Original Name : Vinciane Millereau

Gender : Female

Sylviane Fraval

Character Name : Colette

Original Name : Sylviane Fraval

Gender : Female

Dan Herzberg

Character Name : Jacques

Original Name : Dan Herzberg

Gender : Male

Nancy Tate

Character Name : Alice

Original Name : Nancy Tate

Gender : Female

Frédérick Guillaud

Character Name : Richard Rainsferd, young

Original Name : Frédérick Guillaud

Gender : Male

Maurice Lustyk

Character Name : Man with violin

Original Name : Maurice Lustyk

Gender : Male

Charlotte Poutrel

Character Name : Sarah Starzynski, adult

Original Name : Charlotte Poutrel

Gender : Female

Maxim Driesen

Character Name : Edouard Tezac, child

Original Name : Maxim Driesen

Gender : Male

Xavier Beja

Character Name : André Tezac

Original Name : Xavier Beja

Gender : Male

Jacqueline Noëlle

Character Name : Old woman

Original Name : Jacqueline Noëlle

Gender : Female

Jean-Pierre Hutinet

Character Name : Village doctor

Original Name : Jean-Pierre Hutinet

Gender : Male

Jonathan Kerr

Character Name : Camp police officer

Original Name : Jonathan Kerr

Gender : Male

Matthias Kress

Character Name : German officer at farm

Original Name : Matthias Kress

Gender : Male

Franck Beckmann

Character Name : German officer in train

Original Name : Franck Beckmann

Gender : Male

Nicolas Seconda

Character Name : Gendarme Vel d'Hiv

Original Name : Nicolas Seconda

Gender : Male

François d'Aubigny

Character Name : Gendarme Vel d'Hiv

Original Name : François d'Aubigny

Gender : Male

Stéphane Charond

Character Name : Camp gendarme

Original Name : Stéphane Charond

Gender : Male

José Fumanal

Character Name : Camp gendarme

Original Name : José Fumanal

Gender : Male

Gilles Louzon

Character Name : Camp gendarme

Original Name : Gilles Louzon

Gender : Male

Pierre Nahori

Character Name : Policeman in train

Original Name : Pierre Nahori

Gender : Male

Yasmine Ghazarian

Character Name : Camp woman

Original Name : Yasmine Ghazarian

Gender : Female

Naëva Lissonnet

Character Name : Little girl in camp

Original Name : Naëva Lissonnet

Gender : Female

Céline Caussimon

Character Name : Nurse Vel d'Hiv

Original Name : Céline Caussimon

Gender : Female

Claudine Acs

Character Name : Hysterical woman Vel d'Hiv

Original Name : Claudine Acs

Gender : Female

Viktoria Li

Character Name : Clinical nurse

Original Name : Viktoria Li

Gender : Female

Loïc Risser

Character Name : Male nurse

Original Name : Loïc Risser

Gender : Male

Franck Chilly

Character Name : Stretcher-bearer

Original Name : Franck Chilly

Gender : Male

Marco Florio

Character Name : Italian waiter

Original Name : Marco Florio

Gender : Male

Alice St. Clair

Character Name : Mozart Cafe Waitress

Original Name : Alice St. Clair

Gender : Female

Stéphanie Gesnel

Character Name : Young woman at the window

Original Name : Stéphanie Gesnel

Gender : Female

Gérard Couchet

Character Name : Old man at the window

Original Name : Gérard Couchet

Gender : Male

Mark Fairchild

Character Name : Bob Rainsferd

Original Name : Mark Fairchild

Gender : Male

Melinda Wade

Character Name : Young blonde American woman

Original Name : Melinda Wade

Gender : Female

Kiley Liddell

Character Name : Sarah Starzynski, baby

Original Name : Kiley Liddell

Gender : Female

Brooke Liddell

Character Name : Sarah Starzynski, baby

Original Name : Brooke Liddell

Gender : Female

Sophie Bacry Picciotto

Character Name : (voice)

Original Name : Sophie Bacry Picciotto

Gender : Female

Christian Vurpillot

Character Name : (voice)

Original Name : Christian Vurpillot

Gender : Male

Robert Rotsztein

Character Name : (voice)

Original Name : Robert Rotsztein

Gender : Male

Tatiana De Rosnay

Character Name : Client in restaurant (uncredited)

Original Name : Tatiana De Rosnay

Gender : Female

Ludovic Louis

Character Name : Trumpet player (uncredited)

Original Name : Ludovic Louis

Gender : Male

Eric Moreau

Character Name : Gendarme (uncredited)

Original Name : Eric Moreau

Gender : Male

Anoushka Rava

Character Name : Italian woman (uncredited)

Original Name : Anoushka Rava

Gender : Female

Jacques Chirac

Character Name : Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Original Name : Jacques Chirac

Gender : Male

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-04-13

Gilles Paquet-Brenner has put together quite an engaging cast to tell this story of a woman with an hitherto unknown family history. "Julia" (Dame Kristen Scott Thomas) is a journalist with a French magazine who is assigned to write a story of the infamous rounding-up and deportation of the Jewish population of Paris in 1942. By chance, she and her husband are looking to move into his father's spacious apartment and she discovers something of it's history. It was rented, once, to the "Strazynski" family who were victims of that heinous event. As "Julia" begins to investigate further, she finds herself immersed in a poignant story of a family who made some fairly horrific sacrifices so that at least one of them could survive the atrocities to come. It was the young sister "Sarah" (Mélusine Mayance) who came up with the idea of hiding her brother "Michel" (Paul Mercier) in a cupboard. Once interred, though, she was terrified that he could be left alone, or found, or worse - so with the help of a sympathetic French guard manages to make her way, with a friend, to the farm of "Jules" (Niels Arsetrup) where he and his wife offer her protection from her persecutors and essentially treat her as their own. "Julia" now focusses on what happened next, discovering things perilously close to home as she goes along. Though Dame Kristen does well enough here, it's really the young Mayance who steals the scenes. Her performance as the young girl determined to rescue her sibling delivers the real thrust of just how indiscriminate the persecution of her people was. Age, sex, infirmity - the Nazis didn't care and that attitude is briefly, but well extolled, by images of folks on trains like cattle in transit. There must be loads of similar stories to be told like this, but this one is imaginatively photographed, thoughtfully paced and well worth a watch.