Un secret

Beautifully filmed - stunning screenplay A simple story beautifully acted by the entire cast.

Stunningly beautiful female leads as well.

This film gets my vote as one of the best foreign language films I've seen. It can be a little slow moving in parts so it's a film that you want to watch when you are not in any hurry, just sit back and enjoy.

The story revolves around Francois growing up in 50's Paris who find out a family secret. It jumps from the 30's - 80's in telling the story and I thought it a nice touch filming the 80's section in black and white. Don't miss if you like good well acted drama.

"Un Secret" (2007) is a challenging family drama - mystery which takes place in at least five different time periods, but mostly in the past and around the German occupation of France in the WWII years. It dexterously handles multiple time jumps, and keeps your attention, but loses momentum somewhere along the way. It does have a first-rate cast: Cécile de France certainly looks the part of an athlete (a swimmer / diver, to be specific) -> you can see why Patrick Bruel would, with a guilty conscience, consider her to be an upgrade compared to a deliberately dowdy Ludivine Sagnier. **1/2 out of 4.

Claude Miller is a director I have been much interested in in the past, and the sufferings of those targeted by Nazis during the war can't fail to affect me, but this film dealing with a Jewish family before, during and after the war somehow does not grip me as it should. I can't fault the actors, they are all good, and Cécile de France is inspired, but the endless flashbacks and flash-forwards tried my patience greatly. When I have to ask myself who this character is who is hurling angry words at another character, I lose patience with the story. Some pruning of plot and characters would have benefited the film.

Miller also made L'Accompagnatrice, again a war story, which suffered from many of the same faults. I think he is best at contemporary stories like Betty Fisher et autres histoires and Garde à vue, when he can work with the actors without having to recreate an historical context.

Since the structure of the movie, works with many flashbacks, there is not a big surprise in the end. The acting is more than decent (even I recognize many french actors and I'm not really familiar with most of them) and the story deserves to be told. Although I'm not sure, if it really is based on a true story, it's still a gripping story ... unfortunately, this movie does underscore many things. And while sometimes it might work out to underplay a few things, it doesn't work in the favor of the movie ...

I watched it with another person and he kind of despised the movie. He thought the theme was nice, but was unhappy with the handling of that subject matter. I do agree with him to some degree, but I think it would be unfair to the actors and the (overall) story to give it a lesser rating ...

Director Claude Miller ('The Little Thief')has gone and crafted a fine, taut,heartbreaking tale of repression,tragedy & truth,leading to closure. 'A Secret',adapted from the novel of the same name by author Phiiippe Grimbert,concerns a man,Francois,who as a young boy,had the feeling that he had an older brother. When he couldn't get a straight answer from his tight lipped family,he goes on a search for the truth & gets more than he bargained for. The film boasts of a fine cast,including Julie Depardieu,daughter of actor Gerard Depardieu,and the always welcome Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool). The story's pace may be a bit slow for most Western viewers,but waiting it out will be well worth it,for the final solution. The film's visual look is a treat for the eye (with the present day sequences filmed in black & white, and the scenes that take place in the past which were filmed in colour,which may remind some viewers of 'Les Violins Du Bal'). Films like this deserve far better than they get (unlike any & all of the latest cine crapola that feature Pauly Shore or Adam Sandler). No rating,but contains nudity,sexual situations & some gruesome images of concentration camps that would be disturbing to youngsters under 15.