Production companies: Quad Productions, Main Journey
Distributor: Gaumont
Cast: Dorian Le Clech, Batyste Fleurial Palmieri, Patrick Bruel, Elsa Zylberstein, Bernard Campan
Director: Christian Duguay
Screenwriters: Jonathan Allouche, Alexandra Geismar
Producers: Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Joe Iacono, Laurent Zeitoun, Yann Zenou
Director of photography: Christiophe Graillot
Production designer: Franck Schwarz
Costume designer: Pierre-Jean Larroque
Editor: Olivier Gajan
Composer: Armand Amar
Casting director: Juliette Menager
Christian Duguay's A Bag of Marbles portrays the genuine story of two brothers who traveled through Occupied France, leaving one home after another whenever the Germans came. It is a Holocaust survival narrative for audiences who are not in the mood to confront real suffering. Many viewers will find the film's tone offensive, since it prioritizes adventure over the tragedies of genocide; other viewers might wonder if their time would be better spent on more current refugee stories. Its delicate emphasis on family and tenacity should go over well with those who are prepared to view it on its own terms.
The movie opens with preteen Joseph (Dorian Le Clech) and elder brother Maurice (Batyste Fleurial) having fun with Nazis on the streets of Paris, which is based on an autobiographical novel by Joseph Joffo: When two soldiers approach, they are having fun outside their father Roman's (Patrick Bruel) barbershop. They purposefully conceal the shop's “Jewish business” sign, so the Nazis will come in for a trim. While the Jewish barbers hold razors at their necks, the soldiers engage in the customary anti-Semitic small talk. As they are paying, Roman tells them, “Gentlemen, in this salon, there are only Jews.”
Who knows how true that early recollection of bravery is, but the lads unquestionably regard Roman as a hero. They beam, “You're the best, strongest dad,” But in May 1942, he adopts a tough love approach. He sits the two boys down and explains how his own father had sent him away to avoid a pogrom; tonight, he says, it's their turn. The brothers are instructed to travel independently to Nice, where they will connect with their older siblings and wait for their parents. “Swear that you’ll never tell anyone you’re Jewish,” Roman insists, and then, with no warning, he plays the role of a German, slapping JoJo around and trying to trick him into admitting he’s a Jew.
The film routinely balances fear with humor, and as they get used to hitchhiking, Joseph's voice over explains that “we ended up forgetting we were fleeing something.” Despite the fact that they face violence and intimidation from the beginning of the journey, a Christian priest provides them with a necessary lesson in surviving encounters with the Army. The family is soon reunited on a beach close to Nice, looking like a Riviera travel brochure.
The strain on the children gradually increases each time this cycle is repeated. At one point, they are taken to “New Harvests,” a Catholic boys' camp, where other children intentionally inform them that “we're not Jews either.” They get caught up in a raid and have to persuade a wry Nazi officer that they are gentiles; luckily, a doctor stands up for them just in time, giving the Nazi officer just enough room for doubt, so they may escape from prison.
They eventually land jobs in a resort town in the mountains, where JoJo works for a Nazi collaborator who is unaware that he is hosting a Jew in his home, and Maurice becomes closer to assisting Resistance agents. This episode, which occurs towards the end of the battle, gives the movie a good (albeit fleeting) chance to examine moral complexity: How will Joseph act toward the terrible family who were good to him when the villagers are suddenly free to fight those who collaborated with their occupiers?
The Joffo family ultimately suffered losses as a result of the conflict. A Bag of Marbles, however, chooses to concentrate on those who lived rather than the tragedy of the story.
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