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Christian Faure's "A Love to Hide" is not just another holocaust movie. I better qualify that by saying that I don't think there can ever be too many movies on this theme as the world must be reminded of what human kind is capable of. The atrocities committed against the Jews have been explored but only a handful of movies explored the horrible treatment of other groups, particularly gays. A young Jewish girl, Sarah, beautifully played by Loius Monot has watched her whole family die and has escaped the Nazis. She turns to her former boyfriend Jean. The relationship between Jean and Sarah is poignant and beautiful although never sexual. Jean played by the incredible Jeremie Remier is gay and is in love with Phillipe (Bruno Todeshini). The performances by the cast are perfect and the twists and turns in the story are totally unpredictable. This is a very different film from "Bent". The cruelty of the Nazis is at times too much to cope with but it is a very important film and it will break your heart. There are several scenes in the movie that are quite remarkable. In one scene during a roll call a mother falls accidentally from the train and a cruel Nazi officer in a patronizing voice exclaims, "I said only the names I called". He then shoots the poor woman. Human life has no value in the minds of these men. In the final shot we see the daughter of the poor woman crying as the doors of the train are slammed shut. We know where the child is going. It is so hard to watch but we know such things happened. The film makes the point that gay men were dished out the worse treatment by the Nazis. In one scene a young man is forced to strip and the cruel tormentors ask him to put on a sack and what follows is unimaginable.Jean shouts "Kill me too!". There is a moment with Jean and his father at the end of the film which is powerful in its simplicity and understatement. The acting in this scene is brilliant and proves that less can indeed be more.

What shines is the courage of Jean. The final reconciliation is beautiful but I better not say any more. I hope people see it and realize why older gay men prefer the pink triangle to the pretty meaningless rainbow as a symbol of gay pride.

In a perfect world, all screenplays would be perfect. I'd like to be able to report that the screenplay to "Un amour a taire" (A Love to Hide) is perfect, especially as it covers such an important, and hitherto neglected subject, as the reeducation of homosexuals under the Nazis in Vichy France; but, alas, it is not. There are holes in the plot, and motivation is often unclear. In addition, the viewer is sometimes spoon-fed images that are intended to underscore important themes, but which just seem contrived. I am thinking, for instance, of the moment when Jean's father puts up the sign refusing to serve Jews at the family laundry. Remarkably, a young, beautifully turned out, Jewish woman, and her son, just happen to be about to enter the laundry. Jean then gets a chance to show his humanity when he takes the bundle of laundry she has come to collect out to the woman and lets her have it for free. But even this kind of manipulation cannot undermine the film itself, the lynchpin of which is a riveting performance by up-and-coming French superstar, Jeremie Renier (also so very good in "The Baby") as Jean. He commands attention from his very first appearance, and he maintains it until his tragic last. The entire cast is good, although characters are often underwritten, as in the case of Jean's lover, Phillipe. It's not until the very end of the film that we come to know, and understand, Jean's parents. But I want to recommend this film as a history lesson, one that demonstrates what comes of the kind of hate that takes a particular set of human beings and demonizes them. The tragedy is that this sort of thing is still going on today, particularly in countries like Iran, which recently hanged two teenage boys for being gay. The tendency exists even in America, where hate-mongers like Fred Phelps summarily assign homosexuals to hell. I don't know how much a film like this can do to educate people, but I do know that such education is necessary. In spite of its flaws, "A Love to Hide" performs a service in illustrating, as in "Bent," how overmastering and dehumanizing a force hatred can be.

At the film festival where I saw this film, even jaded film veterans were unprepared for its emotional wallop. This is one of the few films dealing with gay persecution during the Nazi era. It works unflinchingly to ground the material in both a French and German Nazi context. Its brutal but honest portrayal tests the viewer's tolerance for the horrific. Yet this film manages to be subtle, nuanced and rich not only through its script, but also in its period depiction, and lastly, in its dramatic execution. Obviously a work of love, this film conveys much of what is worst and best of humanity set in 1942 during the upheaval of Nazi-occupied Paris.

I just saw this film at a festival screening with a packed audience that was completely overwhelmed. The direction and acting were fantastic, but it was the screenplay that really impressed everyone.

It is one of those films that makes you feel so much emotion, in this case sadness and despair, that you wonder if you can handle it. Afterwards, I felt like a zombie because the feelings were so intense.

This is not a light and happy film, but one that is so powerful and important to see. Because everyone needs to know that it was not just the Jews who were persecuted during the Nazi era. Homosexuals were rounded up, tortured and killed. You have to see it to understand.

Just saw this film at Outfest (The Los Angeles G & L film festival) and this film just totally blew me away. It was so gripping and full of emotional ups and downs that you just don't know if you can take any more. This film is a must see for anyone who's ever wanted to see and learn more about the gay holocaust and all of the torture and other cruel acts homosexuals had to endure under the hands of the Nazi's. Remarkable and I hope this film gets a theatrical release because it needs to be watch by everyone, gay or straight, so we may better be able to understand each other. It hard at times to watch, but with parental presence, I would suggest taking anyone in their late teens to seniors. This is a historical piece of gay cinema you cannot afford to take for granted.

This film, while historically interesting and politically relevant, goes deeper than most message films. What is so fascinating is that so many things go on in this film besides suffering and Nazi hatred. It is, above all, the story of a family (and the family that is created).

Yes, the Nazis' massacre of Jews and Gays is a huge part of this movie, but what sets it apart is the humanistic story of love, jealousy, acceptance, guilt and tragedy that is set WITHIN the central group of friends and family in the film. There are many small surprises, and the melodrama is really cut to a minimum. Some very wrenching scenes, for example, come and go before you can get a good cry in. To me, the true brilliance of the film lies in its ability to show rather than tell what horrors befell Europe during Hitler's reign.

I caught this movie by accident when I was channel surfing one night on cable and happened to land on TV5. Although I don't speak anything other than basic French, the opening scene caught my attention and I ended up sitting through the whole film. It's a tribute to how good it is that even with basic French vocabulary, I was able to follow the story - and what a story it is. An absolute treasure of a film, and I am amazed it hasn't been more widely publicised or shown on mainstream TV over here in the UK. Not an easy film to watch as there are some very brutal scenes, but I recommend it highly. And I would definitely advise a box of tissues to be kept at hand - there are moments that will break your heart.

Just saw this on a website and was waiting to cry like a baby after reading all the previous reviews. Forty minutes in and I was bored and waiting for something to happen. Here's why it didn't touch me. Firstly, the story of the Nazis and how they treated Jews and gay people is well known. So...nothing shocked or horrified me there. Secondly, as much as the director/writer tried to get the audience interested in the primary players, it just wasn't enough for me. Thirdly, when Jean came home and was on his death bed, he didn't look like you would expect someone coming straight from a death camp. He should have weighed 70 lbs and looked absolutely emaciated. Instead, he looked pleasant, and his face looked pretty darn good. Nice cover girl makeup job. What I saw in this movie was a director trying to make the picture and cinematography look fantastic, but in so doing, he lost realness and intimacy. Everything, the clothes, the sets, the hair, makeup were TOO pretty. It all looked staged and unreal. I just saw a low budget movie, "The Falls: Covenant of Grace", where I cried from the beginning to the end - the difference being the relationship between the central characters had been well developed and the intimacy and realness of the emotions were too incredible to ignore. So...how much a movie costs doesn't necessarily translate into an emotionally engaging film.

This is one of the best films I have ever seen, rarely has a film combined suspense, pathos, intelligence, sadness and humor in such a tight and heart wrenching narrative. I have met the director here at the screening (Columbia college)and he seemed like a perfect embodiment of the film, an interesting man. The standing ovation and the continuation of the applauds that lasted a good five minutes is a small indication of how well received this master piece was. CLASS from the word go, a must see, especially in today's atmosphere where dark clouds that are looming over our horizons. Pack a clean white handkerchief, you'll use it. Toby Ross Hornbill Films

Internationally known as "A Love to Hide", this french movie portrays the persecution of homosexual people during WW2. It is one of the few movies that focusses on this. Interestingly, one of the main actors portrays a jewish girl and thereby making clear the tensions that existed in overall society of being persecuted. Who is going to be safe afterall in a society run by the Nazi people?!

The movie takes of pretty slow and I honestly have to admit that the first 30 to 40 minutes weren't that special. It is however after that point onwards - i.e. The arrest of one of the main actors - that the movie really takes of. And it then develops as a real gem that shows people not only how evil the nazi were, but also how some collaborators acted during WW2.

Overall, I think that this movie deserves a score of 7.1/10, which is a pretty decent score if you take into account the slow first 30-40 minutes of the movie. Resulting in a 7-star IMDb rated movie, this movie deserves to be on the watchlist on any one whom wants to know how gay people needed to fear for their lives during WW2.

Other reviewers have shared their experience with this amazing movie. I saw it in July at the Outfest film festival in LA. What I don't understand is why this film has never been distributed in the US? In will shortly be available on DVD, so at least it won't disappear. But it should be seen as widely as possible, if not in theaters, at least on TV.

Perhaps a letter writing campaign to HBO or Showtime? Or to Here TV or to Logo? It would be a challenging movie for audiences, but the quality of the film alone should draw people to see the film. I also find it curious and sad that nearly all of my favorite gay-themed movies are European. It seems that the US film industry has great difficulty making this type of film, even with heterosexual themes.

I have just seen this film at the Out Takes film festival in Auckland. All I want to know is why there is so little information on the internet about this truly amazing film. It is a masterpiece that should be recognised world wide.

A wonderful multi layered storyline,brilliant acting and production values far superior to most that regularly win awards. Profoundly moving, it will have you thinking for several days afterwords. Tragically, it seems destined to reaching only a tiny audience.

I feel privileged to be apparently one of the few who will get the chance to see this truly remarkable film. I strongly recommend it to everyone, gay and straight.

Already in my top 10 movies of all time.

This is the second time I vote 10 for a film. I couldn't give it 20, but I would. An extremely rare film. Everyone has already went through explanations about its contents. I will go through something different.

The script is just impossible. Maybe one of the best things I've ever seen. It blows your mind away. It's absolutely brilliant. No gaps. No fissures. No dead ends. As thoroughly crafted as any Shakespearian play. More acts than in any Bergman's film. Every character depicted with their innermost desires, thoughts and emptiness.

I'm still crying, and I don't know why I can't stop. Only real episodes of our absurdly grim history in the news have made me cry because they move moral fibres that I try not to touch, but reality does.

The Hamlet-like play evolves with such a tension, that there are moment when your body engages in the same reeling provoked in your mind. Attention to every small detail has been paid so nothing is left to imagination. The crudeness of the story clashes with the subtlety and perfection of the shooting. Transferred to film, the focus on making you fall inside the spiral of the story is completely intended.

There are no limits regarding directorial skills, acting prowess, costumes, camera angles, colour... a perfect brocade that reminds me of nothing I've ever seen. Maybe we could say that Nicholas and Alexandra was one of those films that tell a story with sheer brutality, and where nothing is taken for granted. Maybe there are others.

I've seen more than 1,500 films in my life. I have memories from a very early age of most of them. But I can't say why this film made me re-think what I teach and what I think about cinematography... and about life.

The violence never goes over the top, but it surpasses any violence I've seen in war films. The issue of love surpasses anything I've ever seen in any romance or read in any novel. The cruelty, the passion, but especially the immense tension that grips you from the very start borders the insane. If there is a film that goes all the way to tell a story, this is the one. Maybe Fanny och Alexander would be the other of the 1,500 I've seen.

Epic in proportions. Epic in the perfect period atmosphere. Epic in its story telling. Epic in resources, both human and material. Epic in a cast that can ask no more from each and every one who took even a small role in the film. Epic in the way it takes your mind and spirit in the most dangerous roller-coaster.

If there's something you could try some day -if you dare, and IF you can, is to analise the way this film was photographed. I usually praise Vittorio Stroraro's work. This film takes advantage of all available techniques in cinematography, but it keeps the traditional, organic, unfiltered reality at face value. Not a small achievement these days.

Again, French cinema is leading the world with stories that make you think, live, feel the crude and sad reality. Not a film for someone with any kind of heart condition or queasy stomach. No horror film can make you feel like this one. This is a film that was never intended to be classified as horror. But you'll meet one of the most horrifying experiences ever. A master piece of art.

If, when the credits start to roll, you don't feel like you're alone and miserable, the last captions will do their work. Believe me, its a roller-coaster that ends in a vertical freefall.

I apologise for using so many superlatives. I couldn't refrain myself.

A beautiful and poignant film that encourages you to wait for the arrival of the hero and the redemption of the evil only for neither to happen. Someone commented that the film was like a roller coaster, for me it didn't feel that way, no individual scene was too brutal or heartbreaking for me to reach for the tissues, until, as the end captions appeared the whole reservoir of emotions that had been slowly welling inside overcame my composure. With torrents of tears running down my face for the millions of the brutally murdered I wondered why; why people allowed this to happen and why we still allow it to happen today. If there is a god, surely he is crying too.

Watched this by chance, the title spoke to me and I knew nothing of it. A pleasant surprise!

I'm a sucker for movies in this time period, WWII, and this movie lives and breathes the paranoia and horror of Nazified Europe most realistically. If anything, it's the normalcy of the peoples' lives in occupied France juxtaposed against the sadistic manipulation of the German army that amplifies the on screen emotions. Perhaps it's just that it is real, that it happened more or less as in the screenplay, and is not some fictional time and place conveying a love story. Perhaps it works because of the investiture of caring from all involved in the production. Whatever. It works. It works very well.

A love story.

I do not wish to give anything of the movie away to someone who's not seen it . . . but the essence of this movie is the love between the characters. The primary goal of the Nazi monster brigade is to strip away humanity by reducing or eliminating the emotions----to create insensate automatons in those who are enslaved or destroyed. If the Nazis were to truly succeed they would entirely eliminate strong emotion ties. Not letting them see those ties, hiding them, is critical to keeping them alive and intact. Thus the title.

Acting is quite nicely done. Everyone stays credibly in character and the acting syncs with the script. I didn't fault any of the performances, and this includes the bit players. Lighting, camera work, editorial flow, all are top-notch. There's much to like and much to respect in this movie. Hats off to everyone who contributed to it. I recommend it heartily.

Characters,War & Homosexuality is the main theme of this film and everything has blended so well in this that I couldn't stop admiring. Kudo to director and if you wanna see what real people do during war and that too all kinds of people then this is it. The flow is great and the mood that prevails throughout tells a great deal about the director.

All the characters were well played especially sara and jacques. But i feel that the director has taken much of sides and could have really went behind the theme of against war and people against homosexuality. But anyway it was a great movie throughout.

........with their production and 1997 film release of American playwright, Martin Sherman's "Bent." What we have with this French work, then, is a 'been there--done that' sort of situation, where Sherman's 'play--then movie' beats Faure and his screenwriter to the punch. Though to be perfectly honest about it, there are important differences between the two productions. Instead of watching "Bent's" 'mind-numbing' Concentration Camp repetitive work details, we are seeing the results of 'mind-grabbing' (in the literal sense) Concentration Camp experimental labs in "A Love to Hide".

While "Hide" provides an excellent history lesson for younger gays (well, anybody for that matter) and is a worthwhile effort overall, this reviewer finds it not at the same level of 'memorable-ness' as this director's earlier (2000) film work (see my PS-- about that exciting production, below).

As to "Hide's" performances, a sweet-faced Louise Monot (playing the dual roles of Sarah/Yvonne) both begins and ends this film, and she practically steals it. But.......if you're a gay films review reader and, more relevantly, if you're a gay films review writer, then commenting on actor, Jeremie Renier, becomes absolutely essential right about now. Renier---WOW, here's a guy who simply 'oozes' an aura of someone you want to, and have to be with (boyfriend, lover, partner) as soon as you see him. He has a loving spirit and lives this part, never stinting in letting us see who he loves---and he loves very expressively. Much the same can be said of his lover, effectively played by Swiss-born Bruno Todeschini.

And here's one very hard life lesson pointed out by this film, no matter whether your character name is Jean (Renier) or Max (Clive Owen)---If you're French (or German, as the case may be) and going to a local, gay dance club, don't take a spin around the floor, or otherwise consort with, an officer of the military forces occupying your country. Something not so good may come your way.

(NOTE: If you don't speak/read French, very poorly placed DVD English subtitles are most distracting---frequently appearing over characters' mouths and faces and otherwise interfering with the action being watched. In many instances the flow of the story is badly affected by this situation.)

PS--Perhaps I'm not appreciative enough of this directorial work.......but I think I'll just stick to a warm, gay romance, such as the truly great "Just a Question of Love." What's that? Oh, you're saying that it, too, is a French love story, and that is was also brought to us by a little French guy named C. Faure. ---- (In this regard, you might want to read my long-winded, 10-Star review of this little gem, located elsewhere in this site's film reviews under the movie title, "Juste une question d'amour"---there you'll find my write-up filed under "Best" comments. My review is titled: "the French get it right in this film genre..........as usual").

****

A Love To Hide is about the treatment of homosexuals during WWII and how it was equal to the hideous torture and massacre of the Jews. Why is this subject such uncommon knowledge amongst people? Even history buffs are barely privy to this horror. This intense and powerful film portrays gays and the effects of their lives upon their family and in the German occupation. The film very clearly realizes the importance of the long-anticipated awareness of it all, and it's very important that people see this film, whether it's perfect or not as a movie.

The film has one effecting flaw, one that matters greatly to the reaction of the audience to the story, and that is simply the character of Sara, played by Louise Monot. Are we not supposed to like her very much, or are we supposed to and the fact that she is selfish, greedy, cold, and manipulative is overlooked by the writers or meant to be forgiven? I wouldn't mind if the answer to this question were clear in the film. It just isn't. Frankly, I felt like I was supposed to care about her, but I was so angry with her for how deeply causal she is in nearly every violently sad thing that happens. She causes a lot of emotional pain and grisly violence to happen to people in this film, and she never appears to be feeling guilt or regret, perhaps because of the dense factor of her character's selfishness that would cause her to either care too little or not realize her follies. This is all unclear.

However, the story itself is increasingly riveting as it goes on. The final 45 minutes are actually physically stunning. The film's cast packs a punch, even right down to the bit portrayals of Nazi generals and soldiers, which are inducing of great anger. A Love To Hide must not be another foreign gem or highly historically important film to go overlooked by American audiences. verdict

If ever a DVD cover was deceptive advertising, just look at the one offered here--it shows two very attractive young men on bicycles, zipping merrily along on a country road, happy smiles on their faces; the DVD itself has a similar picture.

Be warned. This film is not a cheer-upper, and the bicycle idyll lasts all of five minutes: from then on, it's a grim struggle that doesn't really ever end, though there are conclusions. This is an exceptionally moving and intelligent film about what happens when a dominant culture discriminates against those that don't measure up to someone's idea of racial or sexual perfection; set in Paris, mainly, featuring two brothers in conflict, as well as two lovers attempting to make a success of a relationship, and a woman on the run who tries to find a safe place in a dark world under savage domination.

This film is sometimes brutal, and because the acting, sets and music are all persuasive and finely-tuned, the viewer is swept along for a tragic ride.