Ben Larson All François knew was that his father wasn't overly fond of him. Part of it may have been because he wasn't as athletic as his parents. His father would get upset when he talked of an imaginary "brother." No one talked of the family secret until he was 14 and Louise (Julie Depardieu) decided he should know. She tells him of life during WWII, and his father's first wife, and his son. Unbeknownst to him, they were all Jews, even though his father never practiced his faith. During the war they escaped France. All except his wife (Ludivine Sagnier) and son. She decided to demonstrate her independence at the wrong time. Of course, she was also upset that her husband (Patrick Bruel) couldn't keep his eyes off her brother's wife (Cécile De France). Who could? What happened didn't become known until François (Mathieu Amalric) was older. We, the audience knew what was going to happen, but the Jews at the time had no clue. Julie Depardieu really excelled in this engrossing tale. Cécile De France was also very good. It was a brilliant work of art.

hendersonhall Having read the comments on this site, after having heard a friend (whose opinions aren't always reliable) say I must see it, I expected a marginally good picture when I rented the DVD. OK, I thought, another personal story about French and German anti-Semitism in WW II. This time my friend was right! A Secret was a knockout. It hit home and revived childhood memories. And it's as much or more about pre-WW II & post-WW II as it is about during. I won't repeat what others have rightly said about the uniformly excellent acting or the directing or the photography, etc. Among the things that hit home to me were the child's (or children's) point of view--SO on target--and the very different types of Jews portrayed in this film. Even though I "knew" (intuited) what would happen to some characters, what actually did happen was better than my imaginings. Its reference to the big illusion (La grande illusion) was apt (as well as the one character who actually saw it). More than one illusion is shattered by this pic, which like my friend I highly recommend.

Jay Harris Claude Miller wrote & directed this excellent drama about a family in France From the 1930's to more recent times.It is based on Philippe Grimbert biographical novel about his family & the decisions some members had to make during the war in order to survive.Some say it is a holocaust tale, They do mention & we see fleeting images of that tragic event. This is a sometimes funny, sometimes sad & also tragic as well. ALL these elements are part of life, & we have them all in this 100 minute movie. It is done in a flashback style using various color patterns(including black & white, to cover the period depicted. It can be a bit confusing BUT when you pay close attention everything becomes clear.This is also about wonderful people,the sort of persons we all would like to have known, we may very well know some people like those portrayed in this fine film.Since this is a French film,most of the cast may not be known to us,They ALL do an excellent job. Everything in this film is very well done.It was released in the US in Nov. 2008 & played till early March 2009. BUT only in a very small handful of theatres.This is the type of film that should have played in many theatres all over. It is that good a drama.I feel it would appeal to all types of families.Rent this, you will not be sorry, You may even want to purchase it.Ratings; **** (out of 4) 97 points (out of 100) IMDb 10 (out of 10)

writers_reign This is certainly head and shoulders above Miller's last movie, La Petite Lili, in which he thought he was better than Chekhov and generally stank up the screen. Apparently this is also an adaptation, this time of a modern novel which I haven't read so I don't take it so personally. Another - and better - French director, Louis Malle, also had a crack at Chekhov but Vanya On 42nd Street was content to just film the original text rather than rewrite it. Here, with the help of a mainly fine cast, Patrick Bruehl, Mathieu Almaric, Cecile de France, Julie Depardieu, he tackles a multi-generational tale that begins in the mid thirties with a Holocaust waiting in the wings and ends in the eighties with resolution of a sort. Cecile de France makes an effortless transformation from her usual ingenue to a mature woman but Miller erred in casting Ludo Sagnier and expecting her to act with her clothes on (her naked love scenes in Lili had been central to the wrecking of Chekhov). It has art house written all over it, of course, but it no worse for that. If slow, ponderous, unravelling is your thing you could do far worse than this and my only caveat is that Mathieu Almaric is not given enough to do.