Sarah's Key
Sarah's Key
PG-13 | 22 July 2011 (USA)
Sarah's Key Trailers

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.

Reviews
GazerRise Fantastic!
Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
pointyfilippa The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.
andrew_james10 A very well written and acted movie telling a very harrowing story about what happened to Jews during World War II and the aftermath. I am of an age now where I seek knowledge of what actually happened during recent history and this story combines the facts with personal anguish. I strongly recommend those who want to watch and learn see this movie
mmmarks I side with those who rate this film very highly, and find those who argue more negatively to be unconvincing. I'm glad to read in some of the other reviews that the novel upon which this film is based is quite wonderful. But please don't let that opinion become a stick with which to beat up a very good film in its own right. (I knew nothing about the novel before watching the film; I didn't find the jumps in time at all confusing—by now such editing has become commonplace and allows us to see connections that would otherwise be much more obscure.) Furthermore, the objections to the modern-story you will read in some user reviews miss the point. Of course it is "flatter" than the story of what happens to Sarah during WWII and after. How could it not be? But that is a necessary dramatic technique. The reporter becomes obsessed by a need to find out more and more—to follow Sarah's story wherever it must take her; and in doing so, she finds a way to cope with problems in her personal life, and she is recaptures a terrible chapter in history that is almost impossible to imagine. The further we get from the time WWII and the holocaust, the more "unreal" such stories are in danger of becoming: fodder for mindless comic-book action movies and alternative realities. I like Captain American, to be sure; and Inglourious Basterds is a great film in its own way, too. But the historical record does need to be kept alive, and brought home with immediacy. And yes, these things could well disappear from memory. This novel and film have found an intriguing way to tie us to the past, and to allow many many fine actors to shine. Highly recommended; but be warned: it is not an easygoing experience!
stephanlinsenhoff The movie Sarahs key goes back and forth 1942/2009: in the center is Sarahs key. When fetched by the French police 16/17 July 1942 (13152 victims according Préfecture de Police), Sarah hides her brother Michel in a secret closet, taking with her the key, sure to return soon. All are gathered first in the 'Vélodrome' (Vel' d'Hiv Roundup), then transferred to Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp and (transported to Auschwitz). The French-Anmerican journalist Julia Ormond has the task to write an article for the 60th anniversary. In the book and in the film returns again and again the denial: to remember and unable speak of the trauma, banned to the unconscious. Not a few accepted what happened, seeing and looking: unto today, as example Julias divorce from her French husband. Sarah runs, saving her life but marked by the unforgettable memory of Vel'd'Hive. Married in America and a mother to a son, William, never mentioned to him or others her experience, having the Dufaures name: Sarah ends her life by what is called 'accident'. Not unusual for the survived from 'Auschwitz'. Primo Levi was told by th guards: "You will never leave this camp and if, you will never forget." And so it was: many of the survivors could not live with their memories, ending by free will their unbearable life. In the book and film was of course the French guard Jaques, letting the two girls escape and the Dufaures: but also the French doctor, coming to the ill child and fetched by the Germans. Not the Germans in focus but the French, Julia: "Mike, this was not the Germans. This was the French." Yes, but the Germans ordered what happened in France by German decree. Sarah never forgot her brother, waiting for her to come. Among her belongings was her diary and the key: the symbol that she returned too late to fetch him. Sarahs fictitious key that made the novel and the movie possible: fiction and reality. 1995 apologizes Jaques Chirac, monuments are raised and memory gatherings are held. But what helps afterwards to apologize: it should never have happened. Courage was and still was/is needed in such moments and less cowardice.
B Onsberg It makes one wonder how public officials - and how (most) policemen are like dogs - just following their masters commands/orders - right or wrong, they don't care.....People who believe in the systems,are willing o commit murder, just so they can polish their little grey heads.A great movie, with a not very happy ending, and definitely not frances finest hour.In Denmark (im a dane) ordinary people delayed and prevented the Gestapo and their hired hands -the danish police - from taking our Jewish neighbours, instead we hide them, and smugled the to Sweden.