Un Secret

"Un Secret is the story of Francois, a sickly young boy growing up in 1950's Paris to two parents who value athletic prowess having succeeded in the field in their younger years. Francois creates an imaginary brother as a coping mechanism, embodying all that he lacks in his parent's eyes. The combination of his active imagination and distant relationship with his parents lead him to investigate the family's past, leading him to discover the truth about their actions as Jews during the holocaust."

"Based on Philippe Grimbert's fact-inspired novel, "Un secret" is a fine drama that stands as Gallic vet Claude Miller's best in at least a decade. Oft-traveled narrative terrain of a Jewish family torn asunder during France's WWII occupation is rendered fresh by a complex flashback structure that spans half a century and maintains suspense over key developments until the final reels."

"There are passages where I would prefer a snappier pace of development, but Claude Miller's steady hand intends to draw out all the nuances of the story and the characters, and he uses powerful close ups of his key characters to take us directly into their hearts."

"It's a gripping story, extremely well acted, far superior to Truffaut's bogus The Last Metro."

"A blue-chip cast and handsome stagings do little to prevent this French movie being a muddled, pretentious washout."

"There's no faulting its class but films about Jewish families under the Nazi shadow make a crowded field, packed with classics. It is not destined to become one of those."

"Incorporating a beautifully shot, clever color schematic, Miller, himself a child of the Holocaust, shifts effortlessly between three distinct time periods, while the exceptionally cast performers (also including "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly's" Mathieu Amalric as the adult Francois) imbue their generously written roles with both a palpable passion and a heartbreaking vulnerability."