Ben Larson In the summer of 1942 more than 12,000 French Jews were delivered to the Nazi. They were locked at the Vélodrome d'Hiver for several days without food or water or sanitation.It was up to Red Cross nurses, like Annette Monod (Mélanie Laurent), and Dr. Sheinbaum (Jean Reno) to care for the prisoners and mitigate their suffering.La Rafle is not a film about the deportation of Jews and the horror of the concentration camps with Hitler's Final Solution. This film is powerful testimony to the denaturalization of French Jews, the appalling conditions of the Vel d'Hiv, the lack of resistance of the French police as well as the existence of the French camps.

Deb VintageSoul I never knew about the Jews who were taken out of their homes and kept in the Velodrome d'Hiver in such awful conditions. While I had some idea of the treatment of the French Jews by the Vichy government, having read some historical fact it never hit home to me in such concrete detail before. I liked the juxtaposition of the lighthearted behavior of the children with what was about to happen to them and their families very interesting. I gave it 9 stars instead of 10 because I felt that some stories were not adequately developed. I would have liked to know more about the various characters, particularly those who escaped. I would have liked to know what happened to the girl who escaped by pretending to be the plumber's wife. I would have also liked to know what happened to the other girl who was taken in by the priests, along with her baby brother. There was also no explanation about what happened to the boy who escaped with Jo. Despite these omissions, this was overall an excellent story that succeeded in breaking my heart again.

les6969 I bought this film because it was a cheap DVD and it sat on my shelf for sometime until one night with nothing else to watch I selected it and spent the next couple of hours transfixed by this amazing tale of just about every human emotion. The film shows how prejudices come out during such times as previous neighbours turn on those they have lived with for years. Sadly nothing has changed as we have seen in more recent conflicts. Also France itself is still very ant-immigrant in it's attitude, in fact against anything that isn't French. Udo Schenk perfectly captures Hitler with his conflicting personalities, loving children at the same time exterminating others just because they are Jewish. Hugo Leverdez as Jo Weismann will melt even the hardest heart and this brilliantly shows just how heartless those involved must have been. Jean Reno is excellent as the Jewish doctor who worked amongst the prisoners doing whatever he could. Melanie Laurent is also brilliant as the nurse who slowly comes to realise the full extent of what is actually going on! As others have said all the actors who portrayed children were really good. This film should have won Oscars but sadly did not. I believe it is much better than Schindlers List as it does not really on graphic depictions of violence (although there is some) it rather shows the horror through the eyes of those involved. If you have the DVD watch the making of to be moved yet again.

JonathanWalford This film recounts the story of the July 16, 1942 round-up of 24,000 non-French Jews who had flooded into Paris in the years preceding the occupation to escape Nazi oppression in their homelands. However, the mass-arrest netted less than half the expected number because of the sympathies and help of Paris' non-Jewish inhabitants who warned and hid their non-French Jewish neighbours.This film is predictably poignant because it focuses on the children of these captured Jews. Their story is based on evidence recounted by survivors and witnesses to the events, and as is often the case, truth is stranger than fiction, especially when it comes to stories of humanity.What is unique about this film is how the relationship of Jews and non-Jews and how the sympathies of Parisians to their Nazi occupiers is conveyed. Every shade of humanity is depicted from an anti-semitic neighbourhood baker, and bullying police, to acts of kindness shown by firemen and neighbours, and of course the main character, a nurse who volunteers to care for the interned Jews. Interspersed with this story are snippets of Hitler and Eva at Berchtesgaden with Adolf shown alternatively as a loving 'uncle' to the children of the Nazi elite, or as a madman planning the destruction of the Jewish people.This is an extremely well written, directed and acted film. The subject matter may not be new, but this story is fresh.