Sarah's Key

I have read many Holocaust books both fiction and nonfiction in my teaching career. I can truthfully say this is one of the best fiction showing the life of a survivor. It brought both laughter (though little of that) and tears (lots of them). I really love the characters of Julie and especially Zoe. Zoe is simply adorable. The lessons the book taught and the symbols present are amazing. I had known little about the July 16 roundup in Paris, other than it happened. I didn't realize how many children were rounded up in the action and how horrid the conditions were. It was very well written and I hope to read more of her works in the future.Reading this book after having done 7 more years of Holocaust research and reading made me appreciate this book even more. The author's way of taking the reader into the events of the story and really understanding more of what she is taking about makes the book that much more meaningful.Having read this again after 9 years, my admiration for Tatiana De Rosnay has only increased. Her use of words and pauses to elicit the feeling of horror and unbelievability in the actions makes the feelings so much deeper. She does an amazing job of making this fiction seem

One of the best books ever; still one of my favorites, and the movie did not disappoint. It was very well done and did justice to the book.

I thought this was an excellent film. I had not read the book so I didn't know the story but it's wonderful how it weaves the life journey of a young Jewish girl during WWII and a current day journalist's quest to research the history of happenings in Paris during the war. The journalist (played excellently, as always, by Kristin Scott Thomas) finds that she has a personal connection to the young Jewish girl through her husband's family. I tend to like happy ending but one usually doesn't get that with Jewish stories during WWII and yet there is a poignancy in how the girl's life story lives on thru the journalist. I recommend this movie highly.

We loved this movie since we love historical movies. There's no inappropriate scenes and it keeps your interest all of the way through the movie. It has some adult issues though so you might assess the age of your children and how appropriate the adult issues may be for their age. You will learn new things about WWII that you may of been ignorant of.

Kristin Scott Thomas one of today's most underrated actresses. This talented actress always brings a strong prescence to any movie. This time the British actress is Julia Jarmond, an American journalist, living in Paris raising a teenager daughter with her French husband.She and her husband move into an apartment that has been owned by his family since 1942. Julia soon learns that the apartment has a very tragic history.In 1942, a lively Jewish population lived in the Marais area of Paris. Without warning the French authorities rounded up the Jewish population to be shipped to concentration camps. We step back in time to those fateful days in 1942. Lively10-year-old Sarah Starzynski played by the remarkable Mélusine Mayance lives with her parents and 4 year old brother in a flat in Marais. We soon learn the tragic meaning of "Sarah's key" and how lives were changed in an instant. Julia becomes obsessed with finding the fate of Sarah and the truth behind how the Jarmond family came to own the apartment.One can only imagine the millions of stories that were lived out and lost during WWII. Here is one fictionalized story that gets us to think, "could it happen again?" The French authorities willingly deported their Jewish population to certain death. The French citizens are shown taunting their former neighbors as the Jews are being herded away. I did appreciate a scene of humanity as French peasants threw apples over the fences to hungry children. It was a sign of decency and humanity by some good people who could do nothing more than offer some food to the doomed.Julia's life is changed forever and she is confronted with the past. Kristin Scott Thomas shines in her role as Julia. The tragedy of the meaning of Sarah's key is devastating to watch. The movie is a good study of people trying to survive in horrific times and trying to understand why some people were willing participants in the tragedy.The movie touches on a general theme that we have seen over and over again. The tragic past is being confronted. The significance of Sarah's key adds a twist to the story. I felt Sarah's struggle and story was enough for a while film without the present day story. Of course, the present say story would have had more power if we knew more about the Jarmond family during the war.

Super film magnifique

Una historia superinteresante y muy humana, que toca el corazón.

Wonderful, heart wrenching film from the superb book by Tatiana de Rosnay. Thoroughly recommend them both. Kristen Scott Thomas plays another interesting and intelligent character. The young actress that plays Sarah is anazing. Such a powerful story set within a true atrocity in France.

Tatiana de Rosnay est une excellente auteure. Grand moment de lecture. Je l'ai recommandé et tous l'on apprécié

This is a beautiful movie with very strong acting performances by an ensemble cast. As an aside, the book is also a wonderful read and the movie follows it accurately in both format and style. Highly recommended.