In July, 1942, the French Police breaks in the apartment of the Jewish Starzynski family and arrest them in the Velodrome of Vel' d'Hiv and then in a local concentration camp with other Jewish families. The ten-year-old Sarah Starzynski (Mélusine Mayance) hides her little brother Michel in a closet in her bedroom to escape from the police officers but she does not succeed on giving the closet key to a neighbor to rescue her brother. When her parents are transferred to a German concentration camp, Sarah flees from the French guards with another girl and they meet the family of Jules Dufaure (Niels Arestrup) that help her to return to Paris to rescue her younger brother.

In 2009, the American journalist Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas) and her French husband Bertrand Tezac (Frédéric Pierrot) plan to reform his apartment in Paris to live with their teenage daughter. Julia is assigned to write an article about the notorious deportation of French Jews to German concentration camps in 1942. During her investigation, she learns that the apartment of her husband's family belonged to Sarah's family. She becomes obsessed by Sarah's life and to find the fate of the little girl.

I have just bought the Blu-Ray "Elle s'appelait Sarah", a.k.a. "Sarah's Key", and I found it a perfect movie about a shameful and not divulged period of France's history in World War II. The writer Tatiana De Rosnay has written a magnificent novel and Serge Joncour and Gilles Paquet- Brenner have written an engaging screenplay. The director Gilles Paquet- Brenner made a heartbreaking film that is never corny.

Kristin Scott Thomas is one of the best contemporary European actresses and she has another awesome performance in the role of a flawed, stubborn and selfish character that speaks perfect English and French and becomes obsessed to discover the truth about her husband's family. Her charm and elegance is impressive for a forty-nine-year-old woman. But the girl Mélusine Mayance "steals" the movie in the role of Sarah. The cinematography and music score are beautiful and costumes cover different periods and locations. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "A Chave de Sarah" ("The Sarah's Key")

Movies like this one right here, are not to everyones taste. So while I don't read anything about the story myself before I watch a movie, I would suggest you read at least a little about what this movie is about (and no I won't spoil it for you here, IMDb has always good plot descriptions on its site).

Kristen Stewart is our (the viewers) anchor here and she delivers as always. She did another drama around the same time as this, which was good too and it played with time-lines too. But this one right has more tension and drama combined then the other movie I mention. If you let yourself into the mood of the movie, you will be "entertained".

Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas) is refurbishing her in-laws' Paris apartment after her mother in-law left for assisted living. The apartment comes with a history and she wants to write about it for her magazine. Her husband's grandparents took over the apartment after the Starzynskis. In 1942, the police are gathering all the Jews into the Vélodrome d'Hiver. Sarah Starzynski locks her brother Michel in the closet and promises to return later as the family is taken by the police. She is separated from her parents. She escapes, loses her friend Rachel, finds salvation with the Dufaures, and desperate to return to her brother. In the present day, Julia's uncovering of the past causes friction within the Tezac family. Her pregnancy is causing a rift with her husband. Her investigation leads to William Rainsferd.

Sarah's story is horrific and heart-breaking. It is intense. The present day story is less compelling even with the pregnancy. It should connect to the past much more directly. Julia should be searching for the transit camp that leads directly to Sarah in the camp. Julia should find the Dufaures which leads directly to Sarah being saved by them. In short, the two timelines should be connected directly. Honestly, the present day is only interesting for what Julia finds about Sarah and its own melodrama sorta drags. This is all about Sarah for me and it would be great to have more of her story.