A Bag of Marbles

Name: A Bag of Marbles
Genre: Drama
Released: March 23, 2018
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 55
Cast: Batyste Fleurial, Bernard Campan, César Domboy, Christian Clavier, Dorian Le Clech

2018

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Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

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7.5

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 4 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Cinéart | Release Date: March 23, 2018 | Not Rated

Starring: Batyste Fleurial, Bernard Campan, César Domboy, Christian Clavier, Dorian Le Clech, Elsa Zylberstein, Emile Berling, Ilian Bergala, Kev Adams, Patrick Bruel

Summary: Paris, 1941: Joseph and Maurice are the sons of Roman, the local barber. At 10 and 12, the boys have so little understanding of the persecution of Jews that Joseph thinks nothing of swapping his yellow star for a bag of marbles. Despite their naiveté, Roman knows that their best chance to escape the Nazi roundup is to flee on their own toParis, 1941: Joseph and Maurice are the sons of Roman, the local barber. At 10 and 12, the boys have so little understanding of the persecution of Jews that Joseph thinks nothing of swapping his yellow star for a bag of marbles. Despite their naiveté, Roman knows that their best chance to escape the Nazi roundup is to flee on their own to Vichy France, where their older brothers Albert and Henri have found safe haven. Always one false move from tragedy, these tenacious urchins survive on courage, ingenuity and more than a bit of cunning as they make their precarious way through France hoping to reunite with their family. More than anything, it’s their brotherly bond that gets them through their ordeals. … Expand

Director: Christian Duguay

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 110 min

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Critic Reviews

RogerEbert.com Matt Fagerholm

Mar 23, 2018

The great value of Christian Duguay’s A Bag of Marbles is the degree to which it makes such a barbaric and bewildering chapter in human history comprehensible for young audiences. Read full review

Walter Addiego

Apr 12, 2018

This isn’t the first film to try to deal with the horrors of the Holocaust from a child’s perspective, but it’s tricky material, and this one succeeds because it is direct and forthright. Read full review

Glenn Kenny

Mar 22, 2018

Despite the hardships endured by the characters, nearly every shot seems dappled with nostalgia. The music score is sentimental, with shimmering pianos and trembling strings. But the writing and its attendant characterizations have an undeniable integrity, the particular historical detail offered by the story is not common in films about this era, and the lead performers are moving. Read full review

Guy Lodge

Mar 22, 2018

Even when the chips are down, every boy’s adorable beret looks box-fresh. It’s the boys themselves, however, who often cut through the Camembert to deliver a shot of honest, imperilled feeling. Read full review

John DeFore

Mar 29, 2018

For those ready to view it on its own terms, its gentle focus on family and persistence should go down easy. Read full review

Simon Abrams

Mar 22, 2018

There’s a chintzy silver lining tacked onto every potentially dark cloud in the cloying French World War II drama A Bag of Marbles, a pseudo-inspiring adaptation of Jewish World War II survivor Joseph Joffo’s partly fictionalized memoir. Read full review

Robert Abele

Mar 22, 2018

Director Christian Duguay is much more comfortable handling the sledgehammer superficialities of near-miss action and prankish boyhood than the complicated, turbulent emotions surrounding children imperiled during wartime. Read full review

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GreatMartin

Apr 20, 2018

Germany, France, Auschwitz, yellow stars, WW 2, Hitler, Mussolini, Nazis—sound familiar? Well, it isn’t quite what you expect though all the above are mentioned with Joseph and Maurice added.

Joseph and Maurice are the sons of Roman, the local barber. At 10 and 12, the boys have so littleGermany, France, Auschwitz, yellow stars, WW 2, Hitler, Mussolini, Nazis—sound familiar? Well, it isn’t quite what you expect though all the above are mentioned with Joseph and Maurice added.

Joseph and Maurice are the sons of Roman, the local barber. At 10 and 12, the boys have so little understanding of the persecution of Jews that Joseph thinks nothing of swapping his yellow star for a bag of marbles. Despite their naiveté, Roman knows that their best chance to escape the Nazi roundup is to flee on their own to where their older brothers Albert and Henri have found safe haven. Always one false move from tragedy, these tenacious urchins survive on courage, ingenuity and more than a bit of cunning as they make their precarious way through France hoping to reunite with their family. More than anything, it’s their brotherly bond that gets them through their ordeals. The boys are sly, cunning, smart and mischievous while the director Christian Duguay and cinema photography Christophe Graillot along with screenwriters Jonathan Allouche and Alexandra Geismar add some touches of whimsy like the boys running through a field of yellow flowers without a sign of war, of any invasion or bombers across the picture perfect sky.

The fact that they are Jews are never forgotten and the ways of hiding it such as explaining Joseph being circumcised is presented logically and it is quite possible a Jewish doctor and 2 priests knowingly helped them while a family who is collaborating with the Nazis helped them unknowingly.

The acting is above board and Jo, the youngest brother, played by Dorian Le Clech can’t be faulted while Batyste Fleurial Palmieri, as the 2 years older brother Maurice, makes the line, “I would carry you around the world” sound true and you believe him just as Jo does. Playing their father Patrick Bruel has a shocking, stunning scene at the beginning that had some in the audience gasping while their loving mother Elsa Zylberstein wants to hope every child has a parent like her.

Whether it is Christian Clavier as the Jewish doctor or Coline Leciere as Francoise, Jo’s first crush or the numerous other actors all are believably taking you back to a time, place and story that is never diminished in the telling.

“A Bag of Marbles” is the story of the holocaust as seen through a child’s eyes and though it has ‘downer’ moments—how could it not?-- it brings lightness to that world that doesn’t make what happened easier to digest or to make any sense.

It is based on a true story written by Joseph Joffo, the youngest boy, 30 years later so it is a history of a 10-year-old buy as seen through, remembered by him as a 40-year-old. Accept it on his terms and you will see an excellent film.… Expand

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