Sarah's Key

Narratively complex - juggling storylines, decades apart - the sad tale is told with ease, patience and confidence. The girl playing Sarah is incredibly talented. I don't believe Kristin Scott Thomas has ever turned in a less than stellar job and she's good here too, of course. The scenes in the camp were powerful. Poignant score. Excellent.

(I used the PSI number for this one... Seemed pretty accurate...) An intricately constructed story is given great care, and heart, by all involved, here. None moreso than, Mayance, KST, and Quinn, who all give very nuanced performances at perfect pitch, orchestrated masterfully by Gilles Paquet-Brenner... (And, the older couple in the country absolutely broke my heart, and were my heroes!)

I grew tired of Julia's (KST) selfishness, morally reprehensible actions and propensity for snooping around other people's lives, a firm statement to the perpetual curiosity of women. Mélusine Mayance is amazing though, conveying a depth of emotions with her eyes, unparalleled among young actors these days, as she's benumbed by the atrocity which has turned her and her family's life upside down. Quite a good and at times powerful film which unfortunately loses steam near the end.

Two stories greatly intertwined as KST tries to uncover one of the darkest moments in french history and in this case the story of Sarah being in the middle of the horror. Exactly why she want's to figure out the truth that badly, is a bit loose and it's to bad that it fades out towards the ending. But that are only small objections against an otherwise gripping and touching film about a subject that never gets old and should never be forgotten! It works because you care and believe in Sarah...

Making a film about the horror of concentrations camps and peoples troubles making peace with the past hardly breaks new ground these days. Anywho, the film does do and excellent job making you wonder about the fate of both Sarah and her kid brother. Also, it juggles the two stories nicely. Unfortunately it's all wrapped up a bit too neatly in the end. That aside, it is a good film and Mayance is nothing short of perfect.

http://gorgview.com/sarahs-key

good historical fiction

Uneven movie. Starts off awesomely as a historical detective story, packed with emotional heft and slowly revealing its mystery to us. If only they could have kept that up for 2 hours... it would be a perfect movie. But someone shuffled the script: the secret gets out of the bag far too early, and then there's a slow half hour of "debriefing" during which KST's character becomes ever more nosy and annoying. By the end, you wish she had just left it well alone. Let the truth sleep, Kristin!

Always find these realistic WW2 and the Jews tales a hard watch as it did happen and you know that it so very rarely ends well. Perfectly acted, plotted and visualised for the first two thirds then it loses its way as secrets from the past are unraveled, pity as IMHO it brings the film down by near 20 points, hard but perfectly done watch considered. The child lead turns in an amazing performance and that Key, oh lord how well that works.

Not exactly a fast-paced thriller, but it was definitely an engaging story. This is a strong adaptation in that the experience of the film feels like the reading of a good book.

A gripping film about one of France darkest periods in History.

"As its narrative focuses increasingly on Julia's story and the toll her investigations take on her family life, the film digs into less and less fruitful territory." - Andrew Schenker

A gripping story well told, apart from a weak final scene. All the child actors were incredible.

i generally dislike films about journalists because they mostly harp on how they're so snoopy and destructive to their subjects, i.e. being a complete pain in the ass. this one was not really an exception, the jew/ww2 storyline not being especially groundbreaking either, but i can see the effort. also, good pacing and cross-cutting of eras without losing touch with the main story. liked how it flowed and that it actually worked. props to kristin scott thomas for effortless language transcending.

Another well-meaning travelogue through the horrors of WWII. Good thing that we can grow wiser from all this suffering.

Great story