"Une Amour Ataire" tells the story of Sara Morgenstern (Louise Monot) and Jean (Jérémie Renier), close friends from childhood who meet again years later during the Nazi occupation of Paris. Sara, who is Jewish, sees her parents and sister killed by the Gestapo after being double-crossed by someone who was paid to safeguard them, and seeks out Jean, the only other person she knows in Paris. Jean, now in his late 20's, works for his family-owned laundry business, and is secretly in a four year relationship with his boyfriend Phillipe (Bruno Todeschini), who is involved in the French underground. The gay couple must keep their relationship a secret for fear of persecution. Phillipe gets Sara a new identity, and Jean gets her a job in the laundry. When Jean's brother Jacques (Nicolas Gob) is released from prison on a smuggling charge, he is attracted to Sara, and first sees Jean as competition for her affections. When he finds out that Jean is gay, he arranges for one of his smuggler contacts to have him detained for an evening by the police, then get released due to his "connections", thinking that would make both Jean and Sara indebted to him. This backfires when Jean's sexuality becomes known, and Sara watches in horror as her homosexual protector is sent off to prison and eventually a Nazi concentration camp as a tragic result of a bad decision made by Jacques. Things start to fall apart at home.
This highly emotional and engrossing film is about family, friends and love, at a time in history when there was little else one could depend on. There is little actual violence in the film, yet the sense of danger is ever present. The violence that is portrayed is graphic and and based on actual events documented by survivors of the gay holocaust. An expertly crafted movie, the cinematography is excellent, and well acted by a talented cast. It's a bit melodramatic, with a multi-layered complex twisting plot. Charles Court composed the music. Pascale Fontanille and Samantha Mazeras wrote the screenplay. Directed by Christian Fauré. The English title is "A Love to Hide". In French with English subtitles.
