In 1953, a sensitive French boy finds out from a neighbor that his family's Jewish. François Grimbert becomes a physician, and gradually peels the layers of his buried family history which resulted in his difficult upbringing, raised as Catholic by his "Aryan" appearing parents. His athletic father labored to stamp out stereotypical Jewish characteristics he perceived in his son, to keep the family's many secrets, as most relatives fought in World War II, and later were hauled off to labor and death camps by the Gestapo.
A fine drama that stands as Gallic vet Claude Miller's best in at least a decade.
– Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
18 Oct 2008
fresh:
Suitably tense, sad, and deeply poignant.
– Noel Murray,
AV Club,
18 Oct 2008
rotten:
A Secret is a showcase for great acting.
– Mick LaSalle,
San Francisco Chronicle,
24 Oct 2008
rotten:
A structural mess that turns contrived just when it should be hitting home.
– Ty Burr,
Boston Globe,
19 Dec 2008
fresh:
The title of this movie suggests the difficulty in writing about it. You can't reveal a secret without spoiling it, and in this intriguing, complex family drama spread out over several time frames covering half a century, the secrets keep on coming