Film Review
The Holocaust is to this day a sensitive and highly emotive subject in
France. The complicity of the Vichy regime in Hitler's Final
Solution during the country's period of occupation during WWII has left
an ugly open wound on the French consciousness - one that, judging by present-day
sentiment, will probably never heal. Yet, as Amos Gitai implies
in this powerful adaptation of Jérôme Clément's
autobiographical reflection on the Shoah, staying silent on the subject
is not the answer. It is a story that has to be told if there is
any hope that France's unwitting involvement in a shameful historical
episode can be expiated and the nation's guilt unburdened.
Plus tard tu comprendras (
One Day You'll Understand) is a
deeply ironic title. When you pause to reflect on the scale of
the Nazis' crimes and the enormity of individual human suffering that
was involved, it is immediately evident that no human mind will ever be
capable of understanding the Holocaust. Just how can anyone hope
to comprehend such a tide of barbarity that unleashed evil on an
industrial scale and saddled humanity with an eternity of guilt?
But knowing is not the same thing as understanding. We may never
understand, but it is important that we, and future generations, know
what took place. Films such as this play a vital part in this
on-going education and transmission of knowledge.
Amos Gitai has earned considerable international acclaim for his
forceful (and somewhat biased) exposés of his native Israel,
films such as
Kadosh (1999)
and
Kippur (2000).
Plus tard tu comprendras is an
atypical work, Gitai's first feature to be made in France with an
entirely French cast, a low-key drama which addresses the Holocaust in
a subtle, intimate manner, with little of the director's trademark
didacticism. Gitai still employs his familiar motifs, the
elliptical narrative and fluid camerawork, using settings to make a
connection between the past and the present, but the film is a far more
modest and considered work than he is perhaps known for, and all the
better for it. There are some subjects where whispering can be
far more effective than shouting.
Intense, understated performances from a highly respectable cast headed
by Hippolyte Girardot and Jeanne Moreau give the film a raw immediacy
and solemnity which, coupled with Gitai's lyrical cinematic style, make
the film extremely moving.
Plus
tard tu comprendras is a timely film that reminds us of the
absolute necessity of keeping alive the memories of the Holocaust, not
for the benefit of those who directly suffered (whose numbers are
rapidly declining), but for those who must live with the
consequences. How else is mankind to avoid hurling himself into
the abyss once more if not by learning from the errors of the
past? No, we shall never understand, but by the same token we
cannot afford to forget.
© James Travers 2010
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Film Synopsis
France, 1987. The news is dominated by the trial of Klaus Barbie,
a former Gestapo chief who was directly responsible for the deportation
and murder of thousands of French Jews during the Second World
War. Aware of his Jewish ancrestry, Victor starts to explore his
family history and learns that his maternal grandparents were among
those who were sent to the death camps. Yet, try as he might, he
cannot get his mother to speak to him on this delicate subject...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.