It is typically difficult for a filmmaker to create a movie that straddles different periods of time. It is technical arduous to maintain a central narrative for a story when the focus of the film constantly shifts between the present and past. This can be a rough technique to master both for the screen writer who has to keep the story consistent as the time period slips and the director who somehow has to devise a means to keep the audience grounded in the story being developed as the setting moves between the past and modern day. This also presents a hurdle to overcome for the property master and costume design who basically are required to construct both a modern story and a period piece where the details of the environment is critical to the success of presenting the story at hand. Thankfully there is usually an exception that proves the rule which brings us to the film at hand here; ‘Sarah’s Key’. Not only does this film take on the whole dual tome zone thing but its filmmaker went for the bonus degree of difficulty points by making one of those time periods the Holocaust of World War Two. Even seventy years after those heinous events this naturally remains a powder keg of emotions. For the auteur possessing the conviction of his art to take on this them the results run the risk of careening into the overly melodramatic. Although this offering does have its share of faults they can largely be dismissed as technical in nature not overly detracting from the audience’s appreciation of the film’s overall merits.

At its heart this is an emotional journey that takes the audience through the contrasting lives of a modern journalist and a ten year old girl desperate to save her brother from the Nazi death camps. As the film progresses you will find yourself drawn deeper and deeper into these two very different lives. The film carefully treads the fine line between a well constructed independent film and something more at home on the Lifetime cable network for women. A main factor for this degree of success is certainly attributed to the expertise of the director/writer who has accumulated sufficient proficiency in the craft to know what he is doing and remain on target. The set-up of the premise is excellent, viewing the child’s horrific life through the more audience relatable point of view afforded by a modern day woman. This immediately gives the viewers something substantial to build an emotional association. This forms a strong bond with the audience with both characters. Without this particular approach to the story it would be more difficult for the filmmaker to pull in the audience on a personally identifiable visceral sense. In order to connect a modern adult audience to the experience of a child subjected to unbelievably atrocious circumstances. Using the journalist bridges this gap perfectly permitting the viewer a direct link to the principle characters in both time periods.

Sarah Starzynski (Mélusine Mayance) is a ten year old Jewish child living with her family in Nazi occupied Paris. The Nazis are rounding up the Jewish citizens to send them off to a nearby concentration camp but Sarah becomes determined to save her younger brother from that fate. Desperate she locks the boy in a closet taking the key with her. Shortly afterwards Sarah and her parents are captured and sent off. After enduring and indescribably painful and degrading time but survives and eventually escapes. Sarah makes her way back to her old home and is allowed to enter by a young boy. She rushes to unlock the closet only to find the decomposing remains of her brother. Thankfully the audience is not subject to this sight. The director has the good taste and confidence in the psychological investment he has formed with the audience top leave that shocking moment to our imagination. This is just one example of how expertly writer/director Gilles Paquet-Brenner took on this difficult subject matter. He has several films to his credit prior to this so he had the wisdom to wait until he had developed stylistically to the point here where he can realistically tackle this story.

When it comes time to shift the focus to the modern time Paquet-Brenner provides a natural segue through the decades. Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas) is s journalist in her forties who just inherited the apartment from her grandparents. Her man’s father was that young boy who let Sarah back into the home so many years before. When Julia hears the story her interest is immediately heighted especially in light of the fact that she had previously written an article about in infamous Vel’ d'Hiv' Roundup. This sends her on a journey back through time to uncover the truth of what happened. There is a personal connection uncovered when Julia discovers the survivor of the couple that took the apartment despite the way it was obtained. The story takes the audience vicariously through Julia through one of the darkest periods in human history ostensibly through the eyes of a child.

Paquet-Brenner establishes the emotional foundation of the piece by opening in 1942 so that when he suddenly switches to 2009 the audience is already vested in the plight of the characters. This makes the moves back and forth between times much easier to take as the plot device is used to drive the story through its exposition. This is the kind of film that is best left to European filmmakers. Paquet-Brenner sensibilities were forged on the ground that witnessed these events and that sense of historical gravitas pervades the film without overwhelming the pervading tone of the movie. It also helps that Kristin Scott Thomas is flawlessly bilingual giving a sense of honesty to her performance. In this case the alternating time line provides the filmmaker a built in throttle to control the mood of the film. Just when things get too dark in the past we are moved to the present and given an opportunity to process what was just shown, and more importantly, implied. This is a film that covers themes that are difficult to watch at times but well worth the investment.