Monsieur Batignole

Monsieur Batignole

2002 · 100 min · FR · 7.1 (197 votes)
Dir. Gérard Jugnot · Starring Gérard Jugnot, Jules Sitruk, Michèle Garcia, Jean-Paul Rouve, Alexia Portal, Violette Blanckaert · Music Khalil Chahine
ComedyDrama

In 1942, in an occupied Paris, the apolitical grocer Edmond Batignole lives with his wife and daughter in a small apartment in the building of his grocery. When his future son-in-law and collaborator of the German Pierre-Jean Lamour calls the Nazis to arrest the Jewish Bernstein family, they move to the confiscated apartment. Some days later, the young Simon Bernstein escapes from the Germans and comes to his former home. When Batignole finds him, he feels sorry for the boy and lodges him, hiding Simon from Pierre-Jean and also from his wife. Later, two cousins of Simon meet him in the cellar of the grocery. When Pierre-Jean finds the children, Batignole decides to travel with the children to Switzerland.

VIBE

A surprisingly warm and human story set against the grim backdrop of occupied Paris. It balances moments of quiet dread with acts of profound kindness, offering a hopeful, character-focused journey of unlikely heroism and resilience.

heartwarmingbittersweettensecharmingsteadyperiod dramacharacter-drivenwartimecouragehumanityfamilyidentity
parisfranceescapeworld war iijew persecutionescape agent1940soccupied france
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