This week, Ed admits to forgetfulness. It happens.
A Secret
This is a story of two
generations of Parisian Jews living under the Nazi occupation. The film
wanders back and forth between the periods immediately before the occupation,
the occupation, and after liberation. The flashbacks are shown in color and
the real-time scenes are depicted in black and white.
We meet Maxime (Patrick
Bruel), a young Jewish man involved in gymnastics who marries a sweet, young
woman, Hannah (Ludivine Sagnier). The couple has a son, Simon (Orlando
Nicoletti), and Hannah later dies in a suicidal act involving the Nazis.
At the wedding of Maxime
and Hannah years earlier, we see that Maxime becomes emotionally attached to
Tania (Cecile de France), the wife of his new brother-in-law, much against the
will of Tania. She is blond, beautiful and a superb swimmer and diver. That
illicit attachment blossoms and ultimately, after the death of Maxime's
first wife, he and Tania marry and have a child, Francois. The boy clearly has
emotional problems and perhaps today might be included under a broad definition
of Autistic. The son of the second family is played by three superb actors: as
a very young child by Valentin Vigourt, as an adolescent by Quentin Dubuis, and
finally as an adult and himself a father after the war by Mathieu Amalric.
The picture opens in real
time and we watch the second family operate through the Nazi occupation. The
movie conveys, without at any time showing it, the Nazi brutality towards the
Jews. It shows the degradation and fear the Jews feel and the impact of their
being required to wear the Star of David on their clothes.
What makes the film so spectacular
is observing the everyday lives of an extended Jewish family living under the
occupation. As I sat in the darkened theater and different scenes took place,
I realized that I had seen the movie before. It was originally released in
2007. Believe me, that didn't spoil the experience at all. The scenes I
recalled became even more meaningful.
One of the heartbreaking
scenes was to have Francois baptized in order to help save him from the Nazis
and someone saying, "Don't tell grandpa." (In French, with
English subtitles.)
But when it comes to the Coen brothers' latest, Ed sez fugeddaboutit.
Burn After Reading
This intended comedy, written, produced and directed by the gifted brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, is a total failure.
Even sadder is the waste of a terrific cast who have in the past given audiences so much pleasure. The actors include George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Richard Jenkins, and Elizabeth Marvel. The artist who lost the most by participating in this movie is John Malkovich, but no one comes out ahead in terms of performance reputation.
It would make no sense to
lay out the silly story line other than to note that it is intended to make
security agents, particularly in the U.S., look like dolts. The
reviews I read of the film in advance of seeing it were all unfavorable, but
nothing I read adequately prepared me for how awful it is. Despite the
negative comments, I decided to see it since the public has enjoyed many films
directed and/or written by the Coen Brothers, e.g., "Raising
Arizona," "Fargo," and "No Country for Old Men."
I thought "Fargo" was exceptional. "No Country for Old
Men" was too violent for me, but almost everyone I know loved it.
"Burn After Reading" is one Coen brothers film you can skip.
