À la vie

I saw this film as a part of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival put on by the Jewish Film Institute. I'd never before seen a film that takes place so soon after the liberation of Auschwitz. It's interesting to grapple with the almost shock and disgust of how quickly life is expected to move on for the survivors after such an atrocity. The film did a wonderful job showing how one particular group of women tried to move on and build lives in the 15 or so years after the war. I thought that the depiction of female friendships was done in a powerful and real way. I just don't understand why this film doesn't have a higher rating.

In Auschwitz, the Jews Hélène (Julie Depardieu), Lili (Johanna ter Steege) and Rose (Suzanne Clément) become best friends. In 1945, they leave the concentration camp, and Rose is left behind and considered dead. Hélène moves to Paris and publishes a note in the newspaper trying to find Lili. She befriends the communist Raymond (Mathias Mlekuz) that proposes to marry her. But when she meets her first teenage crush Henri (Hippolyte Girardot), who was also in Auschwitz, they marry each other. In 1962, Hélène finally finds Lili, who brings Rose with her, surprising Hélène. Lili is divorced and lives in Amsterdam and Rose is married with two children and lives in Montreal. They travel to Berck to spend a few days going to the beach and talking to each other. There they meet Pierre (Benjamin Wangermee), a young local that teaches children how to swim and dance, and has a playground called Mickey Club. He has a crush on Hélène, who confide her friends that she is still virgin since Henri was castrated in Auschwitz. Lili is free-spirited and Rose married her husband Nathan, who was also in Auschwitz, but the marriage is loveless. Along the days, they try to avoid recalling their lives in Auschwitz, but they seem to be trapped to the past.

"À la vie", a.k.a. "To Life", is a French film showing the story of three women that became best friends in Auschwitz and reunite seventeen years later in Berck. The plot shows the marks of the prisoner camp in their lives, with recollections along the days they stay together. The Holocaust shall never be forgotten, but this movie discloses a plain story. The best to offer are the performances of the lead cast, but there is anything special to highlight in the story. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Um Brinde à Vida" ("A Toast to Life")

The French movie "À la vie" was shown in the U.S. with the translated title "To Life (2014)." It was written and directed by Jean-Jacques Zilbermann. The film is a Post-Holocaust saga, although it opens with scenes in Auschwitz that are truly horrific.

Hélène (Julie Depardieu) and Lily (Johanna ter Steege) were friends in Auschwitz, and they managed to survive the death march from Auschwitz to Louslau together. A third friend, Rose (Suzanne Clément) was unable to walk, so they were forced to leave her behind. As it turned out, Rose survived until the liberation of Auschwitz. The three did not see each other again until 1962, when they come together for a reunion at a beachside resort in Northern France.

We learn early in the movie that Lily divorced her husband after the war, and is living as a "free soul," with no permanent partner. Hélène and Rose both married concentration camp survivors.

The plot of the film--based on the lives of three actual friends--revolves around their interactions during the reunion. No matter how much ice cream they eat, and how they display their new bathing suits, thoughts keep circling back to Auschwitz.

They quarrel about tiny details which they remember differently. They revive horrible memories. It's clear that the reunion will change their lives, but whether the change will be for the better or for the worse is an open question.

For reasons I don't understand, "To Life" caries a terrible IMDb rating of 6.1. Fortunately, we saw it as part of the excellent Rochester Jewish Film Festival. If we hadn't had "All-Event" tickets, we probably would have stayed home. This is a movie to be seen, not missed. Ignore the rating and seek it out. It's available on DVD, and it will work well on the small screen. See it!