Sarah's Key
I have been ill lately with the flu and the pace I have been running at I think has not aided my recovery. Not sure whether I have contracted the flu twice in 3 weeks or it has been the same one lingering only pretending to go away. I thought perhaps I would visit the local Blockbuster and have a relaxing evening of viewing.
I have not watched a movie at home for the longest time. Normally when I go to a video / DVD store I am looking for off the wall films that may have passed under my radar. Sometimes I pick some real duds, but other times I am richly rewarded and last night was no exception.
Sarah's Key was alone on the shelf with only one copy and I saw it starred Kristin Scott Thomas. Madman - the distributors carry a lot of offbeat films that have in the past served me some very valuable treats and so I ventured again. It was a film that told the story of the Starzynski family and in particular the brother and sister relationship of Sarah and Michel. This was set against the backdrop of anti semitism which I was not aware of that seems to have infected France in 1942 as well as their neigbours in then Nazi Germany.
Whilst the act of isolating a race of people based on their beliefs or based on anything for that matter and dehumanising them I find deplorable, this story finds beauty, charm and persistence in the way it tells the story of Sarah. The story is compelling and it made me wonder on so many levels how we are connected to our ancestory.
I have heard people throughout my years say things like; "It's my body I can do whatever I like with it", I have heard others say, "It's my life I can do what I want". Whilst elements of those statements are certainly true, I wonder how much of what we do is in fact heavily influenced by the past choices of our parents, or their parents or theirs.
A Professor who addressed a conference on the role of family in Switzerland in 1997 said in effect, that we are a direct physical manifestation of the hopes and dreams and foibles of our forebears and to think we are isolated and unaffected by the choices and action of our ancestors is misguided. I dont know about that, no matter how plausible it may seem, but what I can say with absolute certainty is that this story is powerful.
I have not watched a movie at home for the longest time. Normally when I go to a video / DVD store I am looking for off the wall films that may have passed under my radar. Sometimes I pick some real duds, but other times I am richly rewarded and last night was no exception.
Sarah's Key was alone on the shelf with only one copy and I saw it starred Kristin Scott Thomas. Madman - the distributors carry a lot of offbeat films that have in the past served me some very valuable treats and so I ventured again. It was a film that told the story of the Starzynski family and in particular the brother and sister relationship of Sarah and Michel. This was set against the backdrop of anti semitism which I was not aware of that seems to have infected France in 1942 as well as their neigbours in then Nazi Germany.
Whilst the act of isolating a race of people based on their beliefs or based on anything for that matter and dehumanising them I find deplorable, this story finds beauty, charm and persistence in the way it tells the story of Sarah. The story is compelling and it made me wonder on so many levels how we are connected to our ancestory.
I have heard people throughout my years say things like; "It's my body I can do whatever I like with it", I have heard others say, "It's my life I can do what I want". Whilst elements of those statements are certainly true, I wonder how much of what we do is in fact heavily influenced by the past choices of our parents, or their parents or theirs.
A Professor who addressed a conference on the role of family in Switzerland in 1997 said in effect, that we are a direct physical manifestation of the hopes and dreams and foibles of our forebears and to think we are isolated and unaffected by the choices and action of our ancestors is misguided. I dont know about that, no matter how plausible it may seem, but what I can say with absolute certainty is that this story is powerful.
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