THE ROUND-UP

Ma's View: 

This is a harrowing true story of the round-up of civilian Jews by French police which took place in Paris in summer 1942 during the German occupation and which resulted in the extermination of 13,000 men, women and children at Auschwitz.  There would have been more because the French authorities, in full co-operation with the Germans, had used their records to locate 24,000 and were disappointed that they fell short of that number - due in part to the efforts of French citizens who hid and aided the remainder to escape.  Many of these people were refugees who had taken shelter in France to escape the same fate elsewhere in Europe; their poignant faith that the French government would protect them is heart-rending.

We follow the story of Joseph and his friends as their families are first held in the Velodrome d'Hiver with no water or toilet facilities in the summer heat, then moved to a transit camp and literally torn apart - first the men, then the mothers, then the children are sent off on trains.  Veteran French actor, Jean Reno, plays a Jewish doctor who does what he can to alleviate the suffering, aided by a French nurse (Melanie Laurent) who herself starves on the rations allocated to her charges in order to prove to authorities that they were inadequate.  Most of these characters really existed and Joseph excaped to tell the tale.  He is interviewed at the end of the movie alongside the young actor who very ably played the role.

This is a very powerful and moving tale only a little spoiled by the "happy" ending - I guess they were trying to lighten it up a little.

My score:   8/10


Pepe's View:

This is indeed a gripping and not very pretty film.  It is amazing that so little has been revealed of this shameful event in France's history and in the last 6 months this is the second film we have seen covering the same topic.  Sarah's Key is the other.
The film is made all the more harrowing and tragic as most of the people in the film actually existed and the surviving boy who escaped actually has a small part in the film as an old man.  We saw a clip online of this survivor discussing the film and the events with the director (Roselyne Bosch) and the young actor who depicted him in the movie.
Brilliant reenactment and carefull recreation of the events in 1942 made all the more chilling by the depiction of actual families - a great film which unfortunatley is spoilt a little by the romanticised ending.

My Score:  8.5/10