El viejo y el niño

"Le vieil homme et l'enfant " is the first of a series of four autobiographical movies about the director's salad days : for the record , the three other works are : "le pistonné" (1969) "le cinéma de papa" (1970) which became a common noun to designate the old (but great) old French cinema and "la première fois" (1976 )(starring Alain Cohen ,the young star of "le vieil homme" )

The first movie is undoubtly the best and it's sure easy to see why :It features Michel Simon ,one of the all-time greatest French actors ; by 1967,he had under his belt masterpieces by the dozen by the masters of the history of French cinema: Renoir, Duvivier,Carné ,Gance,Guitry,Decoin et al.

Once more, he shines in his part of a grumpy old man , with received ideas , who epitomizes the Marechal Pétain 's ideology in the occupied France; he hates the English,the Jews and the commies although he has never met one of these persons in his lifetime .

But the father (a very good Charles Denner ,who would reappear in "la première fois" ;in both middle movies,the part of the daddy was played by Yves Robert ) wants his son to be in security :in the country ,in the occupation days , French people had more food than in the cities and they stand less danger of being caught up in a round-up because they are Jews.

So the little boy must pretend he was brought up a catholic , he must know his "our father" prayer by heart: It's all the more important since the old country man is a limited anti-Semite ;so is the entourage ,particularly the schoolteacher who has her pupils sing the petainist anthem "Marechal Nous Voila " dutifully every morning.;and the Marechal's portrait is to be seen here there and everywhere .

A warning tells us it's "the occupied years seen through a child's eye" ,a child who does not understand the plight man's madness put them in.

The boy/old man relationship is extraordinary -and you'll shed a tear for their companion,the good old dog-It's double initiation rites: not only the boy has to discover an unknown milieu ,but he embarrasses his protector with naive (but relevant) questions about Jesus (so his daddy was a Jew, wasn't he?)which lead the narrow-minded person to question himself .He will see the others differently when the war is over.

In the occupied France by Nazi Regime , a kid :Alan Cohen is sent away from his family : Charles Denner to countryside , where he is cared by an elderly marriage . There Michael Simon protecting , teaching and loving deeply the little boy . Although, he has an anti-Jewish and extreme right-wing ideology , but he doesn't know the child results to be an unfortunate Jew.

A really sensitive film with an enjoyable relationship between the great Michael Simon and the intimate child . It is a very attractive film with terrific performances dealing with human relations with high sensibility , family love , and brooding message against racism. Here stands out the wonderful interpretation by the extremely touching Michael Simon , he is a complete show , he's really the sense of the film along with the little boy Alain Cohen , who is excellent as well , both of whom are magnificent . It displays an agreeable musical score by maestro George Deleure, as well as atmospheric cinematography in black and white by Jean Penzer . The motion picture was very well directed by notorious writer , producer and director Claude Berri.

I caught this at the local art museum, what a treasure it is! I became interested because the director is Claude Berri, and his "Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources" story is one of my favourites of all time. Although this movie is in black and white, it's a superior quality and beautiful to watch. The story, of a little Jewish boy hiding out in the country with an anti-semitic old man in occupied France, could easily have gone down the path of sadness and tears, but instead it is a joyous movie full of laughter and love. I must say Michel Simon is a delightful actor, and makes even a narrow-minded, ignorant, brainwashed old man like Pépé a kind, fun grandpa that any child would love to have. I believe this movie is based on Claude Berri's actual experience, but I did have to wonder at the end if Pépé was ever told the truth about the child's heritage and if so, did it matter? Anyway, this is a fantastic heartwarming movie that you shouldn't miss if you ever get the chance to see it.

A great film , having as pillars the young Alain Cohen and the magnificent Michel Simon as a sort of provisory grandfather A war film, crafted so beautiful, scene by scene, exploring, in gentle manner, sensitive themes than it becomes, step by step, an exercise of seduction.

A beautiful film, for acting, story but, more significant, for the precise - powerful message.

A film about affection, family, friendship and noble pledge for acceptance of the other.

In short, useful. For remind, for resurrect old emotions, for the inspired simplicity and the story of a boy discovering, under the attention of Pepe and Meme, the life.

I just saw this at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival and I was completely astounded! I was expecting it to be good as several people had expressed their love for it but I was not expecting to feel about it the way that I did. A story about a young boy who gets sent away by his family, for his own protection, is shown through the eyes of an imaginative, smart, little boy. I found it amazing to see a film about this time, as experienced by a child - fascinating. Although the story is very difficult, sad and almost unimaginable, Claude Berri manages to make this film powerful and yet very funny at the same time. I would recommend this movie to everyone. It is a French film however for those of you who need them, there are subtitles. So what are you waiting for... go see it!