In 1941, as the noose tightens around the Jews of Paris, the new employee of a talented jeweler becomes the owner of the jewelry store when his boss has to hide in the cellar to avoid deportation. The two men will not be able to do otherwise than to conclude an agreement which will upset their destinies.
Posted at 12:30 p.m.
With this story of a Jewish man who is forced to hide for long months in the basement of his building in order to escape the roundups by the Nazis, Farewell Mr. Haffmann shares almost the same starting point as The last metro, one of François Truffaut’s great classics. This film adaptation of the successful play by Jean-Philippe Daguerre, honored with several trophies at the Molière ceremony in 2018, however, offers a completely different dynamic between the protagonists.
Thus, this feature film by Fred Cavayé (Point Blank, The game) focuses on the journey of an unlikely guest who, plunged into an extreme situation, reveals unsuspected aspects of his personality. Humble and modest at the start, François Mercier (Gilles Lellouche) is flabbergasted the day when, Paris now being occupied by the Germans, the boss of the jewelry store where he works, Mr. Haffmann of the title (Daniel Auteuil), offers him his shop while he tries to reach the free zone with his family. When it becomes clear that his boss’s escape is no longer possible, François imposes on him a strange deal, in which his wife (Sara Giraudeau) is also drawn.
If this story turns out to be rather rich in dramatic springs, Farewell Mr. Haffmann suffers from an approach that is a little too classic, even bombastic, a little as if the weight of the subject weighed too heavily. On the other hand, this film takes advantage of a formidable trio of actors, while having the merit of recalling one of the darkest pages of recent history, like a duty of memory.
Showing this Friday
Drama
Farewell Mr. Haffmann
Fred Cavaye
With Daniel Auteuil, Gilles Lellouche, Sara Giraudeau
1:55