French movie about WWII

March 26, 2007 7:00 AM

When I was in college, I watched a French movie for one of my classes. The premise, as I remember it, was that a French Jew is separated from his wife and child during World War II. He starts paying a old farming couple to hide him, giving them some of the gold and valuables he is carrying. Eventually, the old couple decide that hiding him is rather lucrative, and manage to fool him into remaining in hiding after the war is over so that they can squeeze him dry.

I don't remember too much else about the movie, and for all I know I'm misremembering the details of the plot I mentioned above. I also don't have much of an idea of the date of the movie, other than the fact that it was in colour, and the fact that I saw it in 2000. Does this ring any bells out there in MeFiLand?

posted by Johnny Assay to media & arts (5 comments total)

I think it might be this version of Les Miserables:

"The farmer, François Thénardier (Philippe Léotard), and his wife, Thénardière (Annie Girardot), hide the Jew in the cellar of their barn, feeding him and caring for him. André arranges to repay them for their efforts through his Swiss bank account. Unfortunately, the initially generous farm couple becomes increasingly avaricious and decides not to tell their "boarder" when the Allies invade and the war ends. Trouble also brews between the couple when the wife tries to seduce André, fanning her husband's jealousy.
posted by iconomy at 7:26 AM on March 26, 2007

There are lots of versions of Les Miserables in case that's not the specific one you were looking for.
posted by iconomy at 7:31 AM on March 26, 2007

It does sound to me like the Jean-Paul Belmondo version of Les Miserables. A movie, which as closely as I could tell, was shot just to feature agonizing close-ups of JP's weathered face.
posted by OmieWise at 10:43 AM on March 26, 2007

I saw an Australian short film about a man who convinces an elderly couple on a farm that the police are after them for something minor they did, and they end up living in a car on the property somewhere for a long, long time, while he lives in their house. This reminds me of that short film.
posted by tomble at 5:58 PM on March 26, 2007

That's impressive — I remembered seeing that version of Les Misérables when I was in that class, but I had completely dissociated it from the story of Ziman in my mind and had convinced myself that it was a separate film. Thanks for your help!
posted by Johnny Assay at 9:02 PM on March 26, 2007