04 Dec Sarah’s Key
Sarah’s Key, WWII Movie starring Kristin Scott Thomas
(2010) Sarah’s Key is the story of 1942 German-occupied Paris when over 13,000 Jews were arrested and sent to Auschwitz. The prisoners were temporarily kept at the Vélodrome d’Hiver, a huge bicycling racetrack stadium. Thus, the event is commonly known as the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup. The French police and other officials participated, willingly it seemed.
The film is based on the novel of the same name (or, in French Elle s’appelait Sarah) by Tatiana de Rosnay and focuses on the story of one family, in particular, their daughter Sarah.
The dialogue is sometimes French (with subtitles) and sometimes in English. I got used to that. The other switching back and forth was from the past to the present, sometimes abruptly. As I watched the movie I was glad I had already read the book because some of the story would have been hard to follow otherwise.
All that being said, Sarah’s Key is an important story about an event in wartime Paris, remembered with mixed emotions I am sure. The stadium burned in 1959, and on the site today is a building belonging to the Ministry of the Interior, a small monument and commemorative plaque in memory of the victims nearby.
Even though I knew the story, even though at times it was hard to follow when Sarah’s Key was over I had an emotional rock in my stomach and wanted to watch parts of it all over again.
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