A Secret (2007)

A 15-year-old boy unearths a shocking family secret.

Director:

Claude Miller

Writers:

Claude Miller (scenario, adaptation and dialogue), Natalie Carter (scenario, adaptation and dialogue)

Stars:

Cécile de France, Patrick Bruel, Ludivine Sagnier

4 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cécile de France	...	Tania Stirn / Grimbert (as Cécile De France)
Patrick Bruel	...	Maxime Nathan Grinberg / Grimbert
Ludivine Sagnier	...	Hannah Golda Stirn / Grinberg
Julie Depardieu	...	Louise
Mathieu Amalric	...	François Grimbert à 37 ans
Nathalie Boutefeu	...	Esther
Yves Verhoeven	...	Georges
Yves Jacques	...	Commandant Béraud
Sam Garbarski	...	Joseph
Orlando Nicoletti	...	Simon Grinberg à 7 ans
Robert Plagnol	...	Robert Stirn
Valentin Vigourt	...	François Grimbert à 7 ans
Quentin Dubuis	...	François Grimbert à 14 ans
Chantal Banlier	...	Maria
Myriam Fuks	...	Mère Hannah

Storyline

In 1953, a sensitive French boy finds out from a neighbor that his family's Jewish. François Grimbert becomes a physician, and gradually peels the layers of his buried family history which resulted in his difficult upbringing, raised as Catholic by his "Aryan" appearing parents. His athletic father labored to stamp out stereotypical Jewish characteristics he perceived in his son, to keep the family's many secrets, as most relatives fought in World War II, and later were hauled off to labor and death camps by the Gestapo. Based on a true story.

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Plot Keywords:

secret | family secret | auschwitz | sex in bed | voyeur | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

UGC Distribution [France]

Country:

France

Language:

French Yiddish German Hebrew

Release Date:

3 October 2007 (France)

Also Known As:

A Secret

Filming Locations:

Felletin, Creuse, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$37,135, 7 September 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$623,415, 3 May 2009

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, France 3 Cinéma, Région Ile-de-France

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eva Green was considered for the role of Tania and Pascal Elbé for the role of Maxime.

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Connections

Features Triumph of the Will (1935)

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Soundtracks

Fin a shtein geboirn
(Traditionnel)
Performed by Aldo Granato

User Reviews

Slow moving; not altogether convincing

Claude Miller is a director I have been much interested in in the past, and the sufferings of those targeted by Nazis during the war can't fail to affect me, but this film dealing with a Jewish family before, during and after the war somehow does not grip me as it should. I can't fault the actors, they are all good, and Cécile de France is inspired, but the endless flashbacks and flash-forwards tried my patience greatly. When I have to ask myself who this character is who is hurling angry words at another character, I lose patience with the story. Some pruning of plot and characters would have benefited the film.

Miller also made L'Accompagnatrice, again a war story, which suffered from many of the same faults. I think he is best at contemporary stories like Betty Fisher et autres histoires and Garde à vue, when he can work with the actors without having to recreate an historical context.