User Reviews

Henri Boccara and his pregnant wife are ecstatic as the ship that are bringing them to Tunis is approaching land. He has come back as a sort of pilgrimage to the place where he was born. Although his life changed dramatically at a tender age, the death of his father, serge, seems to have been anti-climatic. His mother passed away shortly after her husband's death.

Henri, who now has taken his father's name, goes back to some familiar places trying to remember parts of his life. In flashbacks we get an idea what his parents had to endure in a land that became polarized by the controls of France, as a protectorate, then the German invasion. As Jews, they did not have a chance to survive, but Henri and his mother and sister were spared of the fate Serge had in store when he was taken prisoner and sent to a concentration camp.

Ferid Boughedir adapted Serge Moati's novel for this television movie that is a sort of memory piece, a reminiscence of the past as a son goes back to rediscover his past. The problem with this feature is a disorientation as there is no differentiation between the present and the past, which is confusing. Arnaud Giovaninetti, Clement Sibony and Els Mollien, the three principals do good work in trying to bring the Boccaras to life.

I really wanted to like this movie; it's an interesting subject which is not well covered (North African Jewry). However the acting is very poor, and the story just doesn't have anything special about it. It ends abruptly, giving the feeling that the author wrote himself into a corner and just typed "the end" in the middle of his narrative.

The scenery is pretty, although not enough of Tunis is shown; it's just very hard to find many positive things to say about this flick.

SPOILER: There is one scene where the Henri's mother and sister discover that his father is alive, by watching a newsreel where he is next to DeGaulle. Okay, that alone stretches one's credulity, but their actions are just not believable. Wouldn't one scream and sob with catharsis? Certainly North African Jews would react dramatically and passionately! But the director just has them smile and laugh....like one would react to finding a set of lost keys, rather than a family member all had given up for dead.