Sarah's Key (2011)
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 109
Fresh: 80 | Rotten: 29
Sarah's Key is an absorbing, impeccably-acted Holocaust drama with minor plot issues.
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 32
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 10
Sarah's Key is an absorbing, impeccably-acted Holocaust drama with minor plot issues.
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Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 8,601
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Movie Info
Julia Jarmond, an American journalist married to a Frenchman, is commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d'Hiv round up, which took place in Paris, in 1942. She stumbles upon a family secret which will link her forever to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah. Julia learns that the apartment she and her husband Bertrand plan to move into was acquired by Bertrand's family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. She resolves to find out what
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Cast
-
Kristin Scott Thomas
Julia Jarmond -
Mélusine Mayance
Sarah -
Niels Arestrup
Jules Dufaure -
Frederic Pierrot
Bertrand Tezac -
Michel Duchaussoy
Edouard Tezac -
Dominique Frot
Genevieve Dufaure -
Natasha Mashkevich
Mme. Starzynski -
Gisèle Casadesus
Mamé, Mamé, Mam? -
Aidan Quinn
William Rainsferd -
Sarah Ber
Rachel -
Arben Bajraktaraj
M. Starzynski -
Karina Hin
Zoé, Zoé, Zo? -
James Gerard
Mike -
Joseph Rezwin
Joshua -
Kate Moran
Alexandra -
Paul Mercier
Michel -
Alexandre LeProvost
Policeman -
Serpentine Teyssier
Concierge -
Simon Eine
Franck Levy -
Julie Fournier
Vel d'Hiv Woman -
Paige Barr
Ornella Harris -
Joanna Merlin
Mme. Rainsferd -
Georges Birt
Richard Rainsferd -
Vincianne Millereau
Nathalie Dufaure -
Sylviane Frava
Bertrand's Mother -
Dan Herzberg
Red-Haired Policeman -
Nancy Tate
Alice -
Frédérick Guillaud
Young Richard Rainsferd -
Maurice Lustyk
Man Playing Violin -
Charlotte Poutrel
Adult Sarah -
Maxim Driesen
Young Edouard Tezac -
Xavier Beja
André Tezac, André Tez... -
Jacqueline Noëlle
Old Lady -
Jean-Pierre Hutinet
Doctor -
Jonathan Kerr
Camp Police Officer -
Matthias Kress
German Officer on Farm -
Franck Beckmann
German Officer on Train -
Nicolas Seconda
Policeman 1 Vel d'Hiv -
Francois D'Aubigny
Policeman 2 Vel d'Hiv -
Stéphane Charond
Camp Officer 1 -
José Fumanal
Camp Officer 2 -
Gilles Louzon
Camp Officer 3 -
Pierre Nahori
Policeman on Train -
Christian Vurpillat
Voice 2 -
Rosa Herzberg
Voice 3 Woman -
Robert Rotsztein
Voice 4 Man -
Yasmine Ghazarian
Camp Woman -
Naeva Lissonnet
Little Girl at Camp -
Céline Caussimon
Nurse Vel d'Hiv -
Claudine Acs
Hysterical Woman Vel d'... -
Viktoria Li
Clinic Nurse -
Loic Risser
Nurse -
Franck Chailly
Stretcher-Bearer -
Marco Florio
Italian Waiter -
Alice Erksine
Café Mozart Waitress, ... -
Stephanie Gesnel
Young Woman at the Wind... -
Gérard Couchet
Old Man at the Window -
Mark Fairchild
Bob Rainsferd -
Melinda Wade
Young American Woman -
Kiley Liddell
Baby Sarah -
Brooke Liddell
Baby Sarah
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Sarah's Key Trailer & Photos
All Critics (109) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (80) | Rotten (29) | DVD (4)
Thomas carries the weight of the movie, and her usual sangfroid works against her; when she finally makes contact with the deported couple's grandson, the story crumples into sentimentality
Top CriticScott Thomas's portrayal of her character's emotional transition ensures Sarah's Key will keep your heart open.
French director Paquet-Brenner occasionally yields to melodrama, particularly in the final act, but he is resolute about not depicting all of his countrymen as Nazi stooges, since many weren't.
Thomas' performance is one of brilliant restraint and believable naturalism.
It does provide audiences with the satisfaction of seeing and hearing an important truth expressed, and that's better than making you feel good. That's making you feel something.
Luckily, the movie has Scott Thomas. She knows her radiance can't be helped, so she uses it here like a searchlight.
A film that plays as a guilty remembrance of a dark corner of French history tucked into a ticking clock thriller.
The emphasis on the writer's relatively trivial if symbolic domestic woes (she experiences a 'miracle' pregnancy in the midst of her research into death) detracts from the power of the wartime scenes.
Makes a powerful impact thanks to the vividness and urgency of its historical scenes.
I'm delighted to see that the Weinstein Company is re-releasing one of the year's most overlooked films, Sarah's Key, the moving adaptation of Tatiana De Rosnay's international best-seller. It's one of the year's best films.
A very good film that ought to have been a great film, but greatness ultimately proves beyond its grasp -- if only just.
Teary-eyed absorbing Holocaust story.
Loses some force in its latter half but the key story remains gripping. Unlocks 70-year-old horrors so the present can't shut the door on past complicities and crimes.
Sarah's Key a poignant tribute to perseverance.
It's a harrowing story of a young girl trying to survive the extermination of everyone she knows. It's also a story of an upper-middle class woman dealing with an unhappy marriage. You just can't give these two things equal weight in a movie.
Sarah's Key is elevated by luminous performances by two actresses -- veteran Kristin Scott Thomas and 10-year old Melusine Mayance. Fortunately their talent often is able to transcend the contrivances that mar the plot.
The performances by Kristin Scott Thomas and especially Melusine Mayance (as the young Sarah) are key to the picture's success.
Anything that might convey the genuine horror of the monstrous acts committed against French Jews is delicately avoided by director Gilles Paquet-Brenner's respectful Steadicam.
Although a wonderful story, it seems to come out in fits and starts. The slow, meandering pace may be a turnoff to those unfamiliar with the novel. Mayance, in her feature film debut, takes the cake in the acting category. Thomas is a...
"Sarah's Key" uses this buried historical incident as a springboard for a potent tale of survival, guilt and hard-nosed reporting.
Were it not for the subtitles, this could easily go out on ITV primetime.
Overly elaborate Holocaust drama nevertheless benefits from the presence of Kristin Scott Thomas.
Audience Reviews for Sarah's Key
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Julia Jarmond: When stories are not told, they become something else....forgotten.
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- Julia Jarmond: Mike. This was not the Germans, this was the French.
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- Julia Jarmond: On the 16th and 17th of July 42 they arrested thirteen thousand Jews.
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Latest News on Sarah's Key
July 21, 2011:
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Foreign Titles
- Sarahs Schlüssel (DE)
- Sarah's Key (Elle s'appelait Sarah) (UK)
