Monsieur Batignole

Monsieur Batignole is a French film released in 2002. The film was directed by Gérard Jugnot and featured Gérard Jugnot, Jules Sitruk, Jean-Paul Rouve, Götz Burger, Michèle Garcia and Alexia Portal in lead roles. The film depicts the story of an ordinary grocer, Edmond Batignole, who helps the young son of his Jewish neighbour, and the boy's two cousins, to reach Switzerland safely.

Monsieur Batignole
Directed byGérard Jugnot
Produced byGérard Jugnot
Olivier Granier
Dominique Farrugia
Written byGérard Jugnot
Philippe Lopes-Curval
StarringGérard Jugnot
Michèle Garcia
Jules Sitruk
Jean-Paul Rouve
Götz Burger
Alexia Portal
Music byKhalil Chahine
CinematographyGérard Simon
Edited byCatherine Kelber
Release date
6 March 2002
CountryFrance
Budget$10.4 million[1]
Box office$9 million

Plot

In 1942, in Paris, which was under German occupation during World War II, a grocer Edmond Batignole (Gérard Jugnot) is living with his family on the ground floor of an apartment building. He has a daughter who is soon to be married. His future son-in-law, an aspiring writer Pierre-Jean (Jean-Paul Rouve) wants the penthouse apartment occupied by a Jewish family, the Bernsteins, and alerts the Gestapo who capture the family early one morning. When the Bernsteins' property is confiscated, the Batignoles apply for and are awarded the apartment. The Batignoles cater a party for SS officials in the confiscated apartment. During the party, young Simon Bernstein (Jules Sitruk) returns to his family home. Batignole hides Simon in a servant's apartment on the top floor of the building but soon moves him to the cellar to avoid discovery. Simon is later joined in the cellar by his two cousins who were themselves being hidden by the concierge of another Parisian apartment building. Edmond tries to find someone to smuggle the children over the border to Switzerland but eventually determines to take them himself. Edmond and the children undertake the dangerous trip to the Swiss border, where they are nearly caught by the police. However, with the help of a kind woman and a priest, they are able to sneak over the border to safety in Switzerland.

Cast

Reception

Variety's critic Lisa Nesselson wrote that the director "has fashioned a fine package, ready to travel".[2] The film was a box office success in France.[2] The 2002 French Academy of Cinema Best Young Actor award was won by Jean-Paul Rouve in this film. The film was shown at VCU French Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, French Film Festival, Bergen International Film Festival where it once again received huge critical acclaim.

References
  1. http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=1761
  2. Nesselson, Lisa (22 March 2002). "Monsieur Batignole". Variety. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
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