Un Secret (Claude Miller)
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Un Secret (Claude Miller)
Written and directed by Claude Miller (based on the novel by Philippe Grimbert) Un Secret (2007) is set to be released on April 4 in France/Monaco. English subtitles will not be offered. With Cecile de France, Ludivine Sagnier, Patrick Bruel, and Julie Depardieu.
Variety:
Based on Philippe Grimbert's fact-inspired novel, "Un secret" is a fine drama that stands as Gallic vet Claude Miller's best in at least a decade. Oft-traveled narrative terrain of a Jewish family torn asunder during France's WWII occupation is rendered fresh by a complex flashback structure that spans half a century and maintains suspense over key developments until the final reels. Impressive cast should help lend prestige item legs when it's released in October later this fall; offshore sales prospects look bright.
In a black-and-white 1985, Francois (Mathieu Amalric) is an anxious-looking Parisian who's informed his elderly father has gone missing. This triggers flashbacks to 1955, when he was a shy, sickly kid (Valentin Vigourt), intimidated by two conspicuously robust parents: erstwhile champion swimmer Tania (Cecile de France) and gymnastically inclined Maxime (Patrick Bruel). While both strain to exert patient understanding, it's clear enough to Francois that he is a disappointment, especially to dad.
The boy's best friend is Louise (Julie Depardieu), who runs her massage business across the lane from the family's clothing shop. Francois also has an imaginary brother who's everything he's not -- fearless and athletic. Discovering a toy in the attic that mysteriously upsets his parents, Francois pulls the long-hidden truth out of Louise: He once had a half-brother, and his parents didn't come together under the idyllic circumstances he's fancied, but rather amid terrible tragedy and guilt.
Prewar scenes find Maxime engaged to another: fetching Hannah (Ludivine Sagnier), whose parents view Hitler's rising power with great foreboding. The groom, however, considers himself French above all, barely acknowledging his Jewish heritage and expecting society to follow suit. At his own wedding, Maxime can't help but ogle blonde beauty Tania, who's just as physically vigorous as himself -- and, to Tania's considerable embarrassment, the attraction is mutual.
Nonetheless, life goes on more or less as planned -- soon including Maxime and Hannah's child Simon (Orlando Nicoletti) -- until the Nazis invade.
Telescoping the considerable spiral of events in Grimbert's prize-winning tome (set to be published Stateside early next year) into a sleek, cogent mosaic of brief scenes, Miller is in top form. Direction and screenplay let the multitiered narrative's emotions emerge without need for melodramatic flourishes. Particularly vivid is the adulterous erotic charge between the leads, though it's seldom more than a matter of fleeting glances.
Thesps are first-rate, including several Miller regulars. Handsome production package emphasizes the good life of prewar and several-years-postwar Paris (as well as the beauty of the countryside during farm sequences), with special mention due Jacqueline Bouchard's stylish period costumes and Gerard de Battista's attractive, occasionally lyrical lensing. Editor Veronique Lange's work is a model of delicacy and concision.
Pic shared the Grand Prix of the Americas prize at the Montreal Fest with Belgian debut feature "Ben X."
Camera (color/B&W), Gerard de Battista; editor, Veronique Lange; music, Zbigniew Preisner; production designer, Jean-Pierre Kohut-Svelko, costume designer, Jacqueline Bouchard; sound (DTS/Dolby Digital), Pascal Armant, Fred Demolder; assistant director, Denis Bergonhe; casting, Elsa Pharaon. Reviewed at Montreal World Film Festival (competing), Sept. 3, 2007. Running time: 105 MIN.
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Arrow Film Distributors will release the film in the UK (there is already a Canadian disc on sale but unfortunately it isn't English-friendly).
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Nitin:
Actually unlike what the press info indicated the Canadian disc did come out English-friendly. We did not get a review copy though (well, I did not get one )
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Actually unlike what the press info indicated the Canadian disc did come out English-friendly. We did not get a review copy though (well, I did not get one )
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More than likely it will be a PAL-port. The Arrow announcement, for the UK, should be up any moment now. I will keep an eye (I get their announcements through a second party).
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I saw this film in Paris and again in London. Now I've received the Canadian DVD. I have the impression that the Canadian edition uses a slightly different edit. In the Canadian edition there are more scenes in black and white (in the present) of the father 'sleep walking', with the son's voice (Mathieu Amalric) explaining the events of the past. This makes the film's somewhat complicated chronology easier to follow, although I'm not sure I prefer it.
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Hello Ron,
I don't have any info with me but I am certain this would be a direct PAL-PAL port. So, it should be identical to the French print. Much better than Strand's.
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I don't have any info with me but I am certain this would be a direct PAL-PAL port. So, it should be identical to the French print. Much better than Strand's.
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#16
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Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist
Hello Ron,
I don't have any info with me but I am certain this would be a direct PAL-PAL port. So, it should be identical to the French print. Much better than Strand's.
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I don't have any info with me but I am certain this would be a direct PAL-PAL port. So, it should be identical to the French print. Much better than Strand's.
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Thanks.
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Courtesy of the Times:
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Arrow Films have announced the UK Region 2 DVD release of A Secret on 6th October 2008 priced at £17.99 RRP. Writer-director Claude Miller's adaptation of Philippe Grimbert's bestselling novel, A Secret stars Cécile De France, Patrick Bruel, Ludivine Sagnier, Julie Depardieu and Mathieu Amalric in a compelling account of a 15-year-old boy who unearths a shocking family secret.
Extras include "The Making of A Secret" and trailer.
Extras include "The Making of A Secret" and trailer.