Sarah's Key DVD
Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Niels Arestrup, Melusine Mayance, Frederic Pierrot
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Rating: 3.5/5
Sarah (Mayance) is a ten-year old girl taken with her parents by the French police as they arrested Jewish families in Paris, July 1942.
Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard - their secret hiding place - and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.
Sixty seven years later: Sarah’s story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond (Thomas), an American journalist investigating the roundup.
What starts off as research for an article ends up as a journey towards self-discovery as she stumbles upon a terrible secret and discovers the heart breaking story of this Jewish family forced out of their home, a home that is now her own.
This is one of the most overlooked movies of this year as Kristen Scott Thomas turns in another superb performance.
This is a very poignant movie that packs a real punch as Gilles Paquet-Brenner mixes the horrors of the holocaust with the story of a modern day reporter.
The holocaust story is by far the most compelling part of the movie - with a superb performance from the young Mayance.
It is unflinching and hard hitting and really does make a powerful watch - however the modern day story doesn’t quite have the same impact.
As you would expect Kristen Scott Thomas is superb in what is an incredibly emotional performance from the Oscar winning actress.
But the modern day setting with a backdrop of marital crisis just doesn’t really sit that well with the rest of the tone of the movie.
These sections away from the main story really does effect the pacing and you just want the film to get back to the story of Sarah and what happened to her and her family.
Sure this movie is not perfect but the presence of Thomas really does give the film a bit of weight - and that more than makes up for the flaws.
Sarah’s Key is out on DVD now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw