Novembermond (1983)
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Directors
Cast
Gabriele Osburg, Christiane Millet, Bruno Pradal, Danièle Delorme, Stéphane Garcin, Gerhard Olschewski, Louise Martini, Werner Stocker
As war closes in, a German Jewish refugee's search for safety in France becomes bound up with love and uncertain refuge.
The story
Shortly before the Second World War, November Messing, a German Jewish woman, flees Berlin for Paris. She survives by working illegally at La Cigale, a bistro owned by a former friend of her father. There she meets siblings Laurent and Férial, and November and Férial fall in love. When German forces occupy France, November flees south, where Férial’s relatives hide her. As the occupation spreads, the refuge itself is threatened.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, November Messing, a German Jew, flees Berlin for Paris. Working illegally at the bistro “La Cigale,” whose owner is a former friend of her father’s, initially keeps November alive. At the bistro, she meets the siblings Laurent and Férial. The two women fall in love. When the Germans occupy France, November first flees to the south of the country, where Férial’s relatives hide her. After the south is occupied, she falls into the hands of the Gestapo but manages to escape. She makes her way to Paris, where she finds shelter with Férial and her mother. To obtain extra food rations and to prevent the Gestapo from looking for November, Férial decides to ask her admirer Marcel for a job as a secretary and a hostess. As the editor of an antisemitic propaganda paper, he has excellent connections with the occupying forces. The sham collaboration comes back to haunt them after the liberation: both women survive the war, but at a high cost.
Genres
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