Marie-Louise

This must have been the first movie I ever saw. It was showing at a small art house theater in New Haven Connecticut. Marie-Louise was mesmerizing to the eyes of a five year old. The Second World War affected the lives of our family and of all our neighbors but not in the cataclysmic way of families all over Europe. After more than 60 years this affecting wartime story of a child's escape by train, desperately trying to protect one cherished keepsake, is still powerfully vivid to me. The next two films I recall were Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North, and Man of Aran. I've recently seen both of those again. I wish Marie-Louise were available today.

Since Switzerland avoided Nazi occupation during World War II, it may seem odd for that country to have made a movie dealing with this topic. But Leopold Lindtberg's Oscar-winning "Marie-Louise" is a fine piece of work, depicting a girl from Rouen sent to a school in Switzerland. Even upon arriving at this presumably safe place, other challenges arise for her.

It was probably appropriate, albeit coincidental, that I watched the movie on the 75th anniversary of Victory Day (celebrated on the 8th in most of Europe, on the 9th in the former Soviet Union). Troubling is that a new set of would-be dictators (notably Hungary's Viktor Orbán and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan) have usurped power in their countries. What's going to happen with these places?

Anyway, great movie.