05. THE ROUND UP (LA RAFLE, 2010)
The Round Up is a thoroughly moving and engaging French production that looks at the horrors bestowed on Jews who fled to France to the safe zone of Vel dHiv just outside of Paris after the outbreak of the war. Betrayed by the French government after Nazi occupation, these families found themselves shipped to concentration camps as an offering of compliance by the French to the Germans. Full of raw, emotionally charged performances from both
Jean Reno and
Melanie Laurent, the film puts a very human face on one of historys greatest atrocities. The supporting cast - including the child actors - are fantastic and wonderfully combine humour, sadness, fear and depression within their performances. Full of hope as well as tragedy, The Round Up is a very striking film that excellently takes its real life source material and turns it into a harrowing but rewarding fictional film.