In the Poland of the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942, a Catholic aristocrat count sells part of his treasures to form a resistance against the Nazis and protect a Jewish community divided into two movements: the first refuses to arm itself so as not to behave like the tyrant and the second wants to take up arms and fight. With the relentless hunt and military power of the Nazis, they are aware that faced with these two choices, their chance is futile.... However, another drama comes to interfere with the first: some of the count's supporters are hostile to this outstretched hand because their resistance is led to save Poland and not against Adolf Hitler's determination to decimate the Jews...
Made on a shoestring budget , filmed in Alsace ,without any known actor (only Chabrol's fans will recognize Dominique Zardi,one of his minor figures),the film in itself is a miracle: the final uprising was probably impossible to film ,considering the paucity of the means and is replaced by genuine photographs taken during the massacre.
But it does not matter for the gist of the story is what happens before ; do they join the resistant fighters or do they accept the Eternal who moves in mysterious ways and become martyrs? In its own way,the movie predates Xavier Beauvois's "des hommes et des dieux"in which Catholic priests accepted the sacrifice .In "une larme dans l'océan" (a tear in the ocean ,what a sublime title!) , opinions differ :some Jews said that's the way the Eternal planned it and resigned themselves to their fate , but others,such as doctor Rubin and Wolyna tsadik's son stood with the rebels and began a desperate fight,lost in advance ..
We do not want to save our lives. No one will get out of here alive. We want to save human dignity ."
Arie Wilner (pseudonym Jurek ), soldier.
