La Rafle
The infamous Vel' d'Hiv Roundup is the focus of this gripping French drama starring Melanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds, Beginners) and Jean Reno (The Da Vinci Code, The Professional). Two days after Bastille Day in 1942, French police carried out an extensive raid of Jews in Greater Paris. More than 13,000 people were arrested, among them 4,000 children, consigned to several miserable days in Paris's Velodrome d'Hiver stadium before being shipped to internment camps within France, and finally to Auschwitz. Long a taboo subject in France--Jacques Chirac issued a public apology only in 1995--the raid and its political backdrop are brought to stirring life in writer-director Rose Bosch's detailed scenario. With a meticulously constructed script based on extensive research and first-hand accounts, La Rafle (The Roundup) became a big box-office hit in France, and its audiences included thousands of young people who came to learn about a dark chapter in their country's history.
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