Very well executed

Such a frustrating disappointment

Excellent but underrated film

Excellent adaptation.

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.

I came across this film quite by accident, but I am glad I did. I am a huge fan of Jean Reno, and I became a fan recently, of Melanie Laurent, who I met through the film, "Inglorious Basterds". I knew I wanted to watch this film based on these excellent actors, and the fact that it was a French story surrounding the Holocaust, which I'd never seen before - a French story regarding the Holocaust. The fact that it is a true story of the events of July 16, 1942, sealed the deal. This story is heart-wrenching and heartbreaking, and is so well told, that as a human, you are feeling everything each Jewish person and family goes through, in these events. As a human, you are reminded how evil and cold- hearted the Nazi machine was, and how there are some people who refuse to give up their humanity, no matter the costs. While we say that we don't want this to ever happen again, I am reminded of news stories where these things are happening again. Ethnic groups killed with machetes, or chemicals like sarin gas, or restriction of water and food, so they starve or die of thirst. I think this film should be watched by every high school student, in any country, so that they see what really happened that day. Maybe, if we all share the same vision that this should not be repeated, then perhaps it won't. It is a naive dream, I know. I think evil will always be here. Jean Reno and Melanie Laurent are excellent in their performances, and I applaud, applaud, applaud them!!!!

"La rafle", written and directed by Rose Bosch is France's latest retell of the atrocities the country lived during the Nazi occupation. It was a time where French collaborators turned against their own, committing atrocities no decent society had faced in history. The thirteen thousand Jews who were rounded up had not committed any crimes. They were the innocent target of a misguided government who treated them as animals, foreign interlopers in the land where most Jews had lived for hundred of years.The story centers around a young nurse, Annette Monod and a Jewish doctor, Dr. David Sheinbaum. Annette in the film represents exactly the opposite of the insane times she lived through. She could do but so much, but her concern about the fate of the people she was asked to oversee was genuine. Dr. Sheinbaum was at a disadvantage because being Jewish himself, he was doomed from the start. It was a time where decency disappeared and madness took over.Melanie Laurent, whom we had admired previously, makes a wonderful contribution to the film. She stands alone against a stronger force that had only a thing in mind, to exterminate a race of people who were seen as enemies. Jean Reno has some good moments in the film. The supporting cast is composed of some of the best performers working in the French cinema today. Unfortunately, most of what is asked of them do not have them doing much. We see Sylvie Testud, Gad Elmaleh, usually seen in lighter fare. Also among the large cast one can see Rafaelle Agogue, Anne Brochet, Catherine Allegret, and many others.One could only hope the madness from those days will never be repeated again.

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.