Christian Faure's "A Love to Hide" is not just another holocaust movie. I better qualify that by saying that I don't think there can ever be too many movies on this theme as the world must be reminded of what human kind is capable of. The atrocities committed against the Jews have been explored but only a handful of movies explored the horrible treatment of other groups, particularly gays. A young Jewish girl, Sarah, beautifully played by Loius Monot has watched her whole family die and has escaped the Nazis. She turns to her former boyfriend Jean. The relationship between Jean and Sarah is poignant and beautiful although never sexual. Jean played by the incredible Jeremie Remier is gay and is in love with Phillipe (Bruno Todeshini). The performances by the cast are perfect and the twists and turns in the story are totally unpredictable. This is a very different film from "Bent". The cruelty of the Nazis is at times too much to cope with but it is a very important film and it will break your heart. There are several scenes in the movie that are quite remarkable. In one scene during a roll call a mother falls accidentally from the train and a cruel Nazi officer in a patronizing voice exclaims, "I said only the names I called". He then shoots the poor woman. Human life has no value in the minds of these men. In the final shot we see the daughter of the poor woman crying as the doors of the train are slammed shut. We know where the child is going. It is so hard to watch but we know such things happened. The film makes the point that gay men were dished out the worse treatment by the Nazis. In one scene a young man is forced to strip and the cruel tormentors ask him to put on a sack and what follows is unimaginable.Jean shouts "Kill me too!". There is a moment with Jean and his father at the end of the film which is powerful in its simplicity and understatement. The acting in this scene is brilliant and proves that less can indeed be more.
What shines is the courage of Jean. The final reconciliation is beautiful but I better not say any more. I hope people see it and realize why older gay men prefer the pink triangle to the pretty meaningless rainbow as a symbol of gay pride.
What shines is the courage of Jean. The final reconciliation is beautiful but I better not say any more. I hope people see it and realize why older gay men prefer the pink triangle to the pretty meaningless rainbow as a symbol of gay pride.