Over the years there have been many movies that have examined the Jewish Holocaust. Some have dealt with the horrors surrounding the Nazi’s brutal and barbaric campaign while others have focused on the individual stories of heroism and survival. Due to the number of these films you would be hard-pressed to find an angle of the Holocaust that hasn’t been covered. But that does nothing to lessen my love for these movies that remind us of what were some of our world’s darkest days.

For me, when a movie about the Holocaust is done well it can be one of the more heartrending film experiences. Even with a familiar subject, if a director can tell a good story and lend their own unique voice to the film, I’m emotionally invested. Such was the case with “La Rafle” which is translated “The Round Up”. Much like “Sarah’s Key” (review coming very soon), a movie that came out the same year, “La Rafle” is set in Paris during the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup. This was the mass arrest of over 13,000 Jews, mostly women and children, by the French police and secret service. Most were taken to the Vel’ d’Hiv stadium and kept in inhumane conditions before being taken to internment camps. Nearly all were eventually sent to and murdered in Auschwitz by the Nazis.

“La Rafle” starts with a bit of fractured storytelling. It hops back and forth between the different people who we will follow as the story moves forward. The central focus is at first on the Weismanns, a Jewish family living in Paris’ Montmartre district. Schmuel (Gad Elmaleh) is an artist and devoted father. Sura (Raphaëlle Agogué) is a tender and loving mother. They have two daughters – one loves ballet while the other is spunky and outspoken. Then there is 11-year old Jo (Hugo Leverdez), their warm-hearted son growing up in occupied Paris. He’s playful and a bit rambunctious especially when he’s with his pals Simon and Noé. We see a lot of the story through Jo’s young and innocent eyes.

There are also breakaways to a young Protestant nurse named Annette Monod (Mélanie Laurent), a character who becomes a central focus in the second half of the film. But there are also scenes featuring a smug Adolph Hitler carrying on the facade of a family man while secret meetings are taking place at his command – meetings that put the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup in motion. That leads to the morning of July 16th, 1942 when the French police under Vichy orders do the unthinkable. The film takes us through the horrible arrests and “processing” of that morning and then puts us in Vel’ d’Hiv stadium with the Weismanns and the others we’ve come to know.

Annette comes to the stadium and volunteers medical help. While she’s there she develops close relationships with Jo and some of the other children. She’s also inspired by a dedicated Jewish doctor named Sheinbaum (Jean Reno). It’s here that the atrocities become real to her and she sets out to do everything she can to help. All of these characters have their paths connected by this one truly horrific event – something that will scar them, the country, and the entire world.

“La Rafle” works because writer and director Roselyne Bosch keeps her focus on the characters. She leaves the graphic depictions of the violence and barbarism to other movies yet its looming reality is always with this film. The tension of the real life events soak every scene even if they aren’t visually depicted. I found that to be very effective. Bosch wants us to connect and invest in the characters and once we do that, the emotion and the intensity flows. Now the movie does feel polished and some have criticized it for its lack of edge. Their are scenes where that criticism is fair but overall I think it misses what Bosch is going for.

Perhaps the most powerful component of the film is that each of its characters were real life people who faced the roundup and what followed. Bosch used their real names and their true stories. For me that just added to the stinging realism. The wonderful costume and set design also worked to draw me in. The shots of Montmartre seems plucked right out of that decade and every person fit perfectly in the period they were representing.

The performances are another strong point. I’ve grown to be a Mélanie Laurent fan. After seeing her in a handful of French and American films, I find her to be an impressive actress. I also really appreciated Raphaëlle Agogué’s work. There’s a subtlety and humble beauty to her performance that really worked for me. I also liked Gad Elmayeh who brings a very believable and well written father to life. I also have to mention the performances from the children. They play a big role in this film and without their solid work the movie would have suffered.

I wish I could say this was a flawless 5 star movie but there were a couple of issues I had with it. The movie seems to assume that the audience is familiar with the subject. Now being a French production I’m sure many of the film’s bigger audiences were very familiar with the history. Having read a decent amount about the events, I was pretty knowledgable as well. But I still found myself unable to follow some of the scenes featuring the planning and the politics between the Vichy and the Nazis. They aren’t all that well constructed which was a little frustrating. I also felt the film slowed down a little too much in the middle. It certainly didn’t kill the film’s effect but it was noticeable. Aside from these gripes, “La Rafle” strikes every chord and tells a truly incredible story.

While in Paris last year my wife and I took time to visit the Shoah Memorial. It was one of the most sobering experiences of my life. This movie reminded me of that visit and of the terrible events faced by the Jewish people in Paris. “The Round Up” is a pretty polished film but its also reverent, sober, and responsible. It’s received some unfair criticism and it’s a film that has went unseen by many here in America. That’s a shame. For me it was wonderfully done and it’s an easy film to recommend.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

I’m not the biggest fan of Stanley Kubrick. He has a couple of movies I really like and a couple that I hate. I recognize his talent and filmmaking skills but I’m not always blown away by this storytelling. “The Shining” is one of his films that I like although not near as much as the obsessives we find in the documentary “Room 237”. While I enjoy “The Shining”, I’m not as smitten with it as many are. But the five people we meet in “Room 237” are beyond smitten. They are consumed with the film.

I had read very little on this unsanctioned documentary prior to watching it. I just knew that it was a look at the deeper meanings of what is perhaps Kubrick’s most recognized film. In its own way that’s what “Room 237” is about. But the documentary doesn’t look at popular theories surrounding some of the film’s bigger questions. It more closely resembles far-fetched conspiracy theories thought up through obsessive analysis. I can’t say I left the picture with any new sense of revelation. To be honest I was a little disappointed. It wasn’t at all what I expected. On the flip side there were some unexpected elements in the movie that I found fascinating.

“Room 237” shows the incredible ability of cinema to open itself to a variety of interpretations. It also shows the amazing love that some people have for movies. That’s certainly the case with the enthusiasts we are introduced to here. Not only do each love “The Shining” but their interpretations wildly differ. It really drove home something I’ve always said – movies often speak to different people in different ways. I love the ability to discuss a film and present my interpretation to someone who sees it differently. Movies that give us that have done us a great service.

But there is a such thing as letting your obsession run wild and that’s what we get here. One person goes through detailed analysis of how the film is about the “white man’s” genocide of the American Indians. Another firmly believes that the entire film is about the Jewish Holocaust. Yet another believes that Kubrick uses the movie to expose his participation in the faking of the Apollo 11 moon landing video footage. Perhaps the funniest theory is that the film is loaded with subliminal messages that support a subtext involving haunted phantoms and demons who are sexually attracted to humans. Yes, someone actually believes that.

Their impassioned defenses of their theories can be interesting especially when they break the film down frame by frame to offer evidence. But honestly it’s hard to take a lot of their ideas seriously. Their entire argument may hinge on a typewriter, the number 42, or a carpet pattern. They often times point to interesting oversights found in the movie. But their relevance to the theories they’re purporting can be pretty flimsy. That’s where the movie falls a bit short. I can appreciate the passion and near fanaticism that the movie features. But the fact that none of these theories carry much weight makes the documentary feel lightweight. Yes I was entertained, but I was left wanting more.

Close to the end of “Room 237”, a gentleman speaks of his life becoming “The Shining”. He talks about his plans to move his family to a secluded part of the country where he can continue to study the film. What an example of a man’s creepy monomania. These infatuations and enthusiasms are what this documentary is really about. Some are intriguing, most are preposterous. Yet there is still something to be said about this kind of love for a movie. For some of us a movie can deeply stir us and a special love for that film can arise. I think “Room 237” shows that you can take that a tad too far. I just wish this documentary gave me a little more to chew on.

VERDICT – 3 STARS