France » How Mysterious!

Sarah’s Key (movie)

May 102013

“Sarah’s Key” is the story of both Sarah Starzynski, French victim of the Nazi holocaust, and Julia Jarmond, Parisian journalist who investigates Sarah’s story for both political and personal reasons.

Julia and her husband are moving into his family apartment, which she learns had been confiscated from a Jewish family during the war. This fact dovetails perfectly with a story she’s investigating for work, the anniversary of the 1942 roundup of French Jews during World War II, and she realizes that her family has indirectly benefited from Nazi war crime. She decides to try to find out more about the family, the Starzynskis, as well as learn what happened to them after the roundup.

It doesn’t take long for Julia to find out that the family was sent to Vel’ d’Hiv, a velodrome, where they were held in miserable conditions until they were separated and put on trains to leave France. As the family was rounded up, though, young Sarah had the presence of mind to hide her little brother in a secret closet, and she still holds the key. Thus, she’s forced to try to escape and hurry back to Paris to rescue her brother.

Julia continues to investigate, learning that her elderly father-in-law witnessed as a child the scene when Sarah arrived at her old home, and never forgot it. But that’s not the end of the mystery. Julia wants to know if Sarah survived the war and if so what happened to her afterward, and even though her fascination with Sarah’s story puts further strain on her troubled marriage, she presses forward with her investigation.

In the end Julia finds out exactly what happened to Sarah, but doing so changes her own life and the lives of people who knew Sarah. The film forces us to see that knowing our own histories matters, and that the effects of war continue long beyond a declaration of peace. The ending was a bit maudlin, in my opinion, but the powerful scene when Sarah returns to her old home was not just almost too much to bear but something I am unlikely to forget. As Julia says, “When a story is told, it is not forgotten.”

Kristin Scott Thomas, who plays Julia, and Melusine Mayance, who plays Sarah, were both strong, neither overplaying their parts despite facing horrors that people would rather forget. The film was directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner in 2010, and most of it is in French with subtitles.

Inspector Bellamy (DVD)

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Apr 132012

Playing the title role, Gerard Depardieu is a husband vacationing with his wife yet still caught up in intrigue. Paul and Françoise Bellamy have the kind of marriage I wish I could’ve had: not perfect, but comfortable, predictable, ordinary, and full of wry humor and understanding for each other’s foibles. When Paul’s no-good younger brother shows up and a man appears in the garden asking for the inspector’s protection, his wife, wonderfully played by Marie Bunel, goes along (well, there may have been a bit of grumbling) with the change in vacation plans, and Inspector Bellamy begins to investigate the murder confessed by the man in the garden.

But this description makes it sound much more like a murder mystery than the movie really is. In fact, the story of Paul’s relationship with his brother, and their family secrets, is vastly more important and, to me at least, more interesting, than the murderer in the garden. Directed by Claude Chabrol, who’s described as “France’s father of suspense,” the film never took the turns I expected and ended in a way I never would’ve guessed. Evidently Chabrol’s fans tend to hate this film, but after watching this one, I will look for others by the same director.

In French, this movie is worth a couple of hours of your time.

Jacqueline Winspear, The Mapping of Love and Death

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Mar 282012

I’ve read lots of good books and series since I started this blog, but Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series has to be one of my favorites. The Mapping of Love and Death, the seventh book in the series, takes Maisie back to France, where she served during World War I. Although it’s 1932 now, the remains of a group of British soldiers have recently been unearthed — a cartography unit that included Michael Clifton, an American who enlisted out of loyalty to his father’s home country.

Clifton’s parents hire Maisie to identify a young woman, “the English Nurse,” who sent Michael a series of love letters, but it doesn’t take Maisie long to figure out that Michael’s death needs investigating, too. Winspear based Michael on a real unidentified British soldier, which makes the tale that much more compelling. I’d also never read anything about or considered the importance of mapmaking in war, so there’s also something to learn here — plus an interesting side trip into documentary filmmaking during the war that I quite enjoyed, even if it was an awfully big coincidence that the film included Michael Clifton.

Although the case is interesting, it’s Maisie’s personal life that always draws me in. She’s finally getting past the war and the terrible effects it had on her and so many others who served in (or near) the trenches, and there are some changes at the end of this book that have significant implications for what will follow. I’ve already reviewed the eighth book in the series, A Lesson in Secrets, and it was one of my favorites in the series, so I’m really fired up about #9, Elegy for Eddie.

Maigret’s War of Nerves

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Dec 262011

As I was going through my list of challenges for 2011, I realized that I’m not going to be able to finish all of them. I decided to cross the Vintage Mystery challenge off the list, but I already had my copy of A.A. Milne’s The Red House Mystery and I wanted to see how Pooh Bear’s author would write a mystery. And then, since I already had two finished it seemed silly (old bear) not to find two more.

I came up with Georges Simenon’s Maigret’s War of Nerves, published in the U.S. in 1940. Since I’m the only person alive who’s never seen or read a Maigret, he was an obvious choice. Why this book? I’ll be honest: it was only 150 pages, and I read it in one evening.

This is truly the lamest backstory I’ve ever had for reading a book. Nonetheless, the book turned out to be a good one. It starts off with Inspector Jules Maigret purposely letting a convicted killer escape from prison. Joseph Heurtin is obviously implicated in the murder — he left boot prints and fingerprints all over the crime scene, where a rich American widow and her companion were murdered. But Maigret suspects there’s more to the story, and since the rather dull-witted Heurtin won’t talk, the only way to figure out what really happened is to let him go and follow him. Heurtin eventually leads the police to Radek, a young, red-haired Czech who spends his days and nights in Paris cafes, and who lets Maigret know that he knows something of what’s going on. Then the War of Nerves ensues between Maigret and Radek: who will give first?

So, that’s book #3 in the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge. Will I finish #4 in time?

Book Tour: Naughty in Nice

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Sep 022011

I’ve always liked Rhys Bowen’s Lady Georgiana Rannoch series, so when I saw a chance to participate in the book launch for her newest Royal Spyness mystery, Naughty in Nice, I was worried that I couldn’t type fast enough to get my name on the list. Fortunately the fingers came through, so I’m one of the lucky ones who got to read it before its release on Sept. 6 (next Tuesday).

If you aren’t familiar with the series, Lady Georgiana is number 30-something in line for the British crown, but after her father blew through the family fortune and then killed himself, she’s more than a bit down at the heel. Her brother, Binky, and his wife, Fig (those names should tell you something about the gently satiric touch to the series), still have Castle Rannoch, but seeing as it’s 1933, not much else. So Georgie’s going to be left behind when everyone who’s anyone goes to Nice for the winter.

But then her royal relative sends Lady Georgiana on a mission: to retrieve the queen’s stolen snuffbox, which she has reason to believe is at the Mediterranean home of a wealthy subject, Sir Toby Groper. Georgie and her completely hopeless maid, Queenie, head to the French Riviera.

This book reveals a bit more of Lady Georgiana’s royal side than in earlier books, when among other things she worked as a maid opening and closing houses for other wealthy families who didn’t realize exactly whom they were hiring. Georgie gets mad when the French police refuse to call her “milady,” for example, and when she gets in trouble with the law deep down she knows the family won’t leave her to rot in a Riviera jail.

Naughty in Nice also portrays Georgie’s lighter side, when she’s thrilled at the chance to wear Chanel (designed for her by Coco herself) and be courted by a marquis, as well as allowing Georgie to resolve her relationship with her mother, the glamorous and wealthy former actress who left her with the Rannochs years before. And then there’s Darcy. Yes, even he manages to turn up in the French Riviera, despite the fact that he’s a Irish nobleman with even less money than the Rannochs. There’s no telling what he’ll think about the marquis.

But don’t be fooled into thinking this book is all charm and fashion. There are hints of the clouds gathering over Europe: Georgie’s mother Claire has money because her latest conquest is a German arms manufacturer, and the depression is so bad that Europe’s wealthy come from far and wide to enjoy the free food and drink at her party. The beautiful gowns and jewels and people stand doomed, as we but not they know what lies ahead.

Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement)

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May 302011

Today is Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, in the United States, when we are called to remember those who died in service to the nation. I’ve decided to broaden the meaning of Memorial Day by reviewing this week three mysteries that are based around World War I, but none from an American perspective. I’m starting today with France.

“Un long dimanche de fiançailles” (2004), in English “A Very Long Engagement,” is the story of Mathilde, a French woman whose fiancé, Manech (played by Gaspard Ulliel), died in France. However, she isn’t satisfied with the story she’s heard about his death — that he was killed during the battle of the Somme after he purposely maimed himself to try to escape the war — so she hires a private detective and does some investigating of her own. As Mathilde slowly begins to understand what happened, we see more and more of life before, during and after the war and what it has all meant to people in France, not in a political sense but just in the lives of a few ordinary citizens.

If you’re a fan of French cinema, you’ll recognize the lead actress and the directorial vision, as “Un long dimanche” reunites director Jean-Pierre Juenet with Audrey Tautou, from the popular film “Amélie” (2001). (This movie has touches of the humor seen in “Amélie,” but don’t expect a comedy.) There’s even a surprise appearance by Jodie Foster.

The most striking thing about this film, aside from its harrowing depictions of trench warfare, is its appearance. In fact, it was nominated for Academy awards in both cinematography and art direction. A brief feature on the DVD (called “Parisian Scenes”) provides an explanation for why the film often looks like a painting: the color scheme and feel are drawn from the work of a French artist, and the costume designer worked with a particular effort on incorporating texture as well as color into the film.

This is one of the best films I’ve seen in a while — definitely this year. It has a compelling mystery, well-drawn (and acted) characters, an incredible appearance, and a view of World War I that will stay with you long after the film is over. If you like movies and don’t mind subtitles, please watch this one. It’s wonderful.

The Vintage Caper

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Feb 212011

Peter Mayle’s The Vintage Caper (2009) is just about the perfect winter book for those cold, dark winter days when you’re stuck inside and feel like the sun might never come out again. Set primarily in Provence, the book’s days are sunny and gorgeous, the food and wine are top notch (and described in loving detail), and the story is light, too.

Danny Roth is a Los Angeles entertainment attorney (a breed thoroughly skewered by Mayle) who decides that his $3 million wine collection, while fabulous, simply isn’t conspicuous enough for Hollywood consumption. He uses his connections to get the LA newspaper to run a story about his wine, which is then almost immediately stolen. The insurance company decides to investigate and hires former criminal Sam Levitt to figure out what happened. He follows all the conventional steps, but, finding nothing, decides to head back to the wines’ origins: Bordeaux. The investigation then moves south to Marseille.

The mystery is almost completely unrealistic — an insurance investigator heads to France for no apparent reason, eating expensive meals and drinking even more expensive wine, visits a bunch of chateaux with the lovely local insurance agent, Sophie Costes, and only after that figures out the one question he could ask that would actually yield any useful information? — but in fact that’s secondary to the scenery, the food, and the wine.

Peter Mayle has lived in Provence for many years, and his love for the region and its culture is not just clear: it’s the real point of the book.

I listened on audiobook and thought the narrator, Erik Davies, struck the perfect tone for Mayle’s wit and wry appreciation for all things French.

Buy the audiobook:

Book #1 in the Audio Book Challenge

The Swan Thieves

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Jan 062011

I started The Swan Thieves (2010) with a bit of trepidation, in part because it’s more than 550 pages long, but also because Elizabeth Kostova’s first book, The Historian, was not all that I’d hoped. I read it before I started blogging so I don’t remember everything about it, but I do know that there was a big battle with a vampire at the end that completely ruined, for me, all the hundreds of pages of well-written and engaging set up. (I know, I know, millions of people like vampire thrillers. I’m just not one of them.)

This one, by contrast, was worth every page and the full week it took me to read it.

The Swan Thieves is about art, and the fact that I’m no artist and have virtually no background in it was another cause for concern, but Kostova does a wonderful job of making it accessible. The main character, Andrew Marlow, is himself an artist, but he’s also a psychiatrist, and he must unravel the mystery of why painter Robert Oliver tried to attack a painting hanging in a museum. Oliver is his patient, but he won’t speak, and so Marlow becomes obsessed with finding out what happened– at first to help his patient, but after a point he becomes so over-involved that it’s far more than that. Along the way he meets Oliver’s ex-wife and former girlfriend, who each tell a part of the story, and, through some letters in Oliver’s possession, nineteenth-century painters Beatrice de Clerval and Olivier Vignot.

The past and current stories intertwine throughout the book until it all becomes clear in the end. I can’t say I didn’t put it down, not at almost 600 pages. But I thought about it even when I wasn’t reading it, and both stories kept me intrigued all week.

Buy the book:

Cache (Hidden)

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Oct 112010

Caché (Hidden) is not a traditional mystery; it unravels rather than is investigated or solved. But it has a certain appeal — beyond just the talented Juliette Binoche.

My film-loving friend Carolina first told me about Caché, and after I’d watched it she commented particularly on the first scene. The film opens with a view of a house from the street. Cars go by, people walk past, and the camera sits silently pointed at the house. What the heck? Then you start to hear people talking, but it doesn’t seem to match the picture. When the camera finally pulls back, you realize that the people are watching the film of the house, and they’re talking because they’re trying to figure out what it means, too.

For it seems that someone has taped the house and sent the video to the owners, played by Daniel Auteuil and Binoche. Although nothing is said, and nothing scary is seen on the film, it’s still vaguely threatening. Someone is watching us. And we didn’t even notice! Why are they watching us? What is the meaning of this?!

The rest of the movie gradually reveals the story. Auteuil’s character did something bad when he was a kid, and he suspects that that single childhood act has come back to haunt him. He tells the police, but more videos arrive, his child is dragged in, the whole family is suddenly thrown into introspection and even suspicion, and they have to decide what to tell each other and how to reveal things that aren’t pleasant about themselves.

Caché is in French with subtitles, and it’s a thought-provoking film. Although it’s nothing like an Anne Perry mystery, the theme that she so often raises — how an investigation raises suspicion, how even the innocent are dragged down when you aren’t sure who’s telling the truth — is present here, too. Knowing that you’re being watched changes everything.

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Movie Monday: The Pink Panther

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Aug 092010

When I was a kid, the whole family (kids, parents, uncle, etc.) took my grandfather to see “The Pink Panther Strikes Again,” from the original series with Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. We all adored Grandpa, so we he started laughing, I mean LAUGHING, as in he could barely breathe, we all did, too. I particularly remember he cracked up when Clouseau tried to ask for a “reum” and when he asked if the dog bites (and then gets bitten). I have to admit I remember the laughing a lot more than I remember the movie. But then, that was 1976.

I was a little unsure about watching the new “The Pink Panther” (2006) with Steve Martin, because it couldn’t live up to that memory. And that was true. Watching it on DVD in the bedroom was not nearly as fun as taking up most of a row in the theater and listening to Grandpa’s wheezing/laughing.

But it was pretty funny. It’s got a good cast — Kevin Kline as Clouseau’s evil nemesis is particularly effective; Beyonce and Kristin Chenoweth also add to the fun. On the other hand, the fun does get in the way of the mystery. It’s not exactly neurosurgery. Maybe that’s why I remember the laughing, not the movie!

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