European Films

That fragmented timelines are no obstacle for box-office success in France was made sufficiently clear this year by two major films: the Edith Piaf biopic La môme (La Vie en Rose) and Claude Miller’s book adaptation Un secret (A Secret). The latter --  based on the eponymous Philippe Grimbert novel that was in turn inspired by real events -- is an old-fashioned drama about family secrets set against the background of WWII and the following years. Though occasional stylistic flourishes feel unnecessary, on the whole, Un secret makes for compelling viewing despite its many familiar elements, and Cécile de France and Patrick Bruel finally prove they are bona fide star material.

De France and Bruel star as Tania and Maxim, a high-voltage Jewish couple in 1950s Paris who try to instill some physical prowess in their sickly young boy François (Valentin Vigourt), though it is clear that he will never reach the level of his former swimming champion mother and gym fanatic father. As a means of escape, he fantasises about having a champion brother and imagines under which idyllic circumstances his handsome parents might have met. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that his daytime fantasies are both shockingly inaccurate and not far from the truth at the same time.

Much of Un secret’s tension derives from the way in which the narrative circles around the titular secret, which is handled in a very natural way by writer-director Miller and co-writer Natalie Carter, who deftly slalom between the WWII years, the 1950s and 1985 and who never strain to keep the dense narrative going as revelations accumulate and relationships become clearer.

The precision work of editor Veronique Lange -- who has worked with Miller before but is more well-known for her work on fast-moving action fare such as Gérard Pirès’s Taxi –- is also crucial, as is the chosen point of view that is close to but never completely coincides with François.

Despite a natural overall flow, the scenes set in 1985 are the film’s weakest link. These scenes, where François is played by Mathieu Amalric from Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), are not nearly as compelling as those some forty to fifty years earlier and they suffer from being shot in unnecessarily arty and occasionally murky black and white. They do however offer occasional pauses in what is otherwise a whirlwind narrative, effectively allowing viewers some time to connect all the dots while also, by virtue of coming last in the chronology, offering a sense of closure.

The beating heart of the film lies during the middle of twentieth century, however, and the scenes in the 1940s and 50s are not only well acted and told but also brilliantly staged. The production design by Jean-Pierre Kohut-Svelko and cinematography by Gérard de Battista is, in one word, lush (both also worked on Miller’s previous film La petite Lili), while costumes and locations add a sense of veracity that might have been coloured by memory.

Actors are strong across the board, and Julie Depardieu (Les témoins / The Witnesses) and Ludivine Sagnier (La fille coupée en deux / The Girl Cut in Two) both shine in supporting roles while the director of a completely different film, Irina Palm’s Sam Garbarski, shines in the small role of Maxim’s father. His first film as a director, Le tango des Rashevski, was also about a Jewish family trying to adjust to both family life and the sweeping events of history.

But what will remain in the minds of the viewers long after the lights have come on is the presence of Patrick Bruel, more famous outside of France as a singer but not less accomplished an actor, and Cécile de France (Quand j'étais chanteur / The Singer), who both impress with a 1940s movie star aura that carries Un secret onto a higher level. Their chemistry seriously crackles and never more than in a scene set near a forest pond, though a chance encounter at a wedding also impresses and is solely based on furtive, almost stolen glances. Their electric performances carry the film through its occasional rough patches, making it one of the more exciting big productions to have come out of France in 2007. 

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