Un Secret

A french film whose historical context is that of pre-, during and post-WWII France. The film’s events center around a Jewish french family and are based on the personal experiences and recollections of one of the family members who was, in post-war Paris, an adolescent, and who currently is a Parisian psychologist. Events unfold through frequent transpositions from the present day to the historical setting. An apparent emphasis is placed on the historical events through the alternative use of monochrome and colour film stock for the present-day and historical scenes, respectively. (Some characters are depicted by the same actors in both eras, and it is perhaps coincidental that the aging makeup applied to these actors is not as obtrusive when filmed in monochrome than it would have been in colour.) Genuine historic footage also makes an appearance in the form of extracts from Leni Riefenstahl’s 1938 pre-war work documenting the Olympic games that took place in Germany in that year.

Given the film’s title, the audience expects to find that the family’s situation at the time we are introduced to them is not without it’s intrigue, and these expectations are certainly fulfilled by the unfolding events. There is furthermore a suggestion that it is not perhaps only the central family which have skeletons in the closet, but that the French nation as a whole may have these also. However, the tone of the film is not bitter, neither towards the state or towards family members, rather there is a sense of forgiveness, expressed towards the latter figures at least.

It was not a straightforward feat to portray the events of the film as they are portrayed, given the frequent chronological transpositions, but the feat is well achieved. That said, some story details may escape those who do not pay close attention throughout, which, given the film’s appreciable duration, is of itself not a trivial demand on the audience’s stamina. The contrast in the opening scenes between the weakling youth, the main character, and his Promethean parents is well-achieved, and his mother in particular, would not seem out of place in the aforementioned Olympia herself. Within the dynamic of the plot, a love scene between the youth’s parents is one climax, and his mother is therein portrayed with an intense physicality and emotion. Much of the film’s events take place in one of a few locations and, as is typical of historic films, exterior street scenes are not expansive due to the fact that a wide-ranging expansive shot of a street scene is more difficult to portray with historical accuracy than one concentrated in a small area.

The moral message of the film is not communicated in a tone overly declaiming, rather the traits, strengths and foibles of the central characters are in general subtly laid bare and the final judgement call is granted to the audience. In this subtle way, much is said, or can be inferred, regarding those who survive and those who perish, and the role that idealism and similar principles can play in this matter.

Archive h☼me