The Most Precious of Goods: a moving tale [critique]

By adapting the work of Jean-Claude Grumberg, the director of The Artist makes his debut in animation with this film about the Righteous and the Shoah.

Michel Hazanavicius had sworn never to make a film about the Shoah, feeling incapable of confronting the insoluble question of its representation in fiction. Until he discovered The Most Valuable of Goods by Jean-Claude Grumberg. And that this childhood friend of his parents included his name to bring his work to the screen. A winning intuition. The action takes place in Poland at the heart of the Second World War. On the train taking his family to the death camps, a man throws his newborn baby out of the window to give him hope of life. A woodcutter will then take in this little girl and raise her against the advice of her husband, who was corrupted by the anti-Semitism of the time before becoming the greatest defender of this child when his workmates, driven by hatred of the Jew , will decide to eliminate it.

Hazanavicius' great achievement is to have been able to translate into images the irresistible power of this story and its storytelling dimension which contrasts with the horror of this period. The style of its animation, this minimalist realism, this simplicity in all the scenes which take place in this forest covered in mist and snowflakes contrasts with those, striking, featuring the father of this child in Auschwitz where Hazanavicius then passes from an animated image to an inanimate image. All accompanied by the voice full of humanity of Jean-Louis Trintignant in the role of the storyteller. Hazanavicius once again proves his ability to never lock himself into any comfort zone.

By Michel Hazanavicius. With the voices of Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dominique Blanc, Grégory Gadebois… Duration 1h21. Released November 20, 2024