Le vieil homme et l'enfant

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!

I remember seeing this movie when I as a teenager (say, about 1970) and I was then very moved by this warm and tender drama. Nearly 30 years later, I just saw it on TV and I didn't change my mind : this is a very good movie, in the way French can say a lot of things in this kind of day-to-day film. The chemistry between young Cohen and veteran Simon is beautiful. It's also filled with references to the way people in France lived the Second world war, like Simon hating Jews and didn't know that is young friend Berry is a Jew. I love Michel Simon. He had been such a great actor from the second half of the 1920's to his death, in the middle 1970's. He was always good in his films, so natural that we don't think he's acting. Le vieil homme et l'enfant is a very intelligent movie for young director Berri, who will be famous as a director and producer in the next years.

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.

The film tells a story inspired by real events during the Second World War and the story transcribed is really touching. The relationship between the old man and the child is one of the best I've seen in movies in general. Actor Michel Simon still does a fantastic job here, and I'm surprised he's not better known than that for the quality of his acting. In the film, he perfectly interprets the role of the old man from the countryside completely bewitched by the Nazi propaganda on the radio. The film clearly shows us that a man can be good while having ideas that are not good, this forces the person watching the film to question himself, should he feel compassion for this old man who takes good care of the child, despite the fact that he is an anti-Semite and that he can reject the latter if he finds out the truth?

And frankly the film makes the task complicated for us by showing us an endearing man. The relationship between the old man and the child, central in the film, is frankly a success and it gives us an enriching experience which does not often happen in films and it proves its quality.

"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.