French director Gilles Paquet-Brenner is so suave, he can stay perfectly composed while simultaneously fielding interview questions, hastily eating a Salade Niçoise and prepping to depart for the next scheduled city on his press tour. Courteous and unfailingly polite, Paquet-Brenner is in America to help promote his new film, Sarah's Key, a kind of political drama concerning a well-regarded journalist (Kristin Scott-Thomas) who discovers a disturbing secret about the flat she and her French husband plan on moving into in Paris. Juxtaposed between the present day and the fateful months during the German occupation of France in WW II that lead to many thousands of Jews being deported to Nazi death camps, the film is a study of the ways even the most poignant and necessary history can still be lost to us. Below, Paquet-Brenner makes his pitch for you to see the film.
Can you describe your film in a single tweet?
Oh, my God. [Long Pause] Not just a Holocaust movie.
What's a good log line for the movie?
Sophie's Choice meets Klute.
If someone really liked this film, what three other films would Netflix recommend to them in their Netflix queue?
Again, Sophie's Choice … I Loved You So Long, and my first movie, Pretty Things.
Here, the phone rings and Paquet-Brenner apologetically answers it and has a very brief conversation in French before hanging up.
I'm sorry, it's my producer calling from France. I'm so sorry: I'm eating and answering the phone, I'm so embarrassed.
Should you drink before or after the movie?
After. [Laughter]
What should you drink?
It depends on how you got the movie. Some people, a shot of vodka or tequila; some people a nice glass of wine to settle down. It's up to the public.
Should you see this movie alone or with friends?
Again, it really depends on you because a lot of people cry watching the movie and I know that some people hate crying in front of their friends. Iif you're a sensitive person, or you're worried about hiding your feelings [you can go alone] but then a grandfather could bring his grandchildren to see it, because that's one of the things of the movie, how it goes through generations. It's a movie that works on a very personal level so you're going to get very different reactions.
Sarah's Key is now playing in limited release.
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