Les Enfants des Justes

Although a MTV work ,"les enfants des )justes" could have released theatrically ,considering its qualities ;it continues the tradition of the "film de qualité" formerly so maligned by the overrated nouvelle vague .

The children confronted to the rural world ,be they Jews or not , during the occupation ,is a subject which goes back a long time ago in France :"jeux interdits" (1952) "le vieil homme et l'enfant" (1966) ,and even in the fifties "le grand chemin" (1987) in which the Anémone/Richard Bohringer couple is not unlike the farmers Mathilde Seignier/Gérard Lanvin; the demarcation line was the eponymous title of Claude Chabrol 's 1966 effort: a doctor (like in "les enfants des justes" ) and a woman belonged to a restistance network who organised clandestine crossings of the demarcation line .

"Les enfants des justes" belongs to this tradition; in its form,it is classic , with a fluid narration , a splendid cinematography on location in the Dordogne valley, and very convincing performances by the whole cast ;historically ,the story is situated between the roundup of Jews in the Paris vélodrome d'hiver they hint at (July 16th ,1942) and the end of the demarcation line (November 11th 1942, anniversary of the WW1 armistice!) plus an epilogue just after the war; the suspicion climate and the denonciatory letters run rampant; the gendarmes are shown under a not very flattering light,the reality was certainly more complex ;on the other hand,the German officer fluent in French is sent to the East Front ,which is far from being a promotion:"I won't see my children again" ; we do not know exactly the reason why but his rebellion may be explained by Blanche' s attitude (Mathilde Seignier is admirable)

The first temptation was to be very critic about this film. But it represents only a sketch. Against small mistakes - the year of birth of Milicia , as example - the message, powerful and clear defines it.

Second virtue - the acting. Mathilde Seigner , Daniele Lebrun, Gerard Lanvin, Anton von Lucke are inspired options for a perspective more profound by the image offered by schoolbooks or popularisation works, about parenthood, about fear and courage, about moral duty and kindness and risks for noble cause, about normality in troubled time.

In few scenes, the realism seems lost .

But it is the proof about the precise image, about cowardness and bravery, about trahison and cznism, about forms of revenge who define not only heros but people in very difficult contextes.