A secret: from novel to film
Released in cinemas in 2007, the film A secret by Claude Miller is the adaptation of the novel of the same name by Philippe Grimbert published in 2004, winner of the Prix Goncourt des lycéens.
The story is set in post-war France and follows the life of François Grimbert, a lonely and sensitive boy, who discovers a deeply buried family secret. At the beginning of the film, François, a lonely and imaginative child, invents an imaginary older brother. As he grows up, he discovers that his family is hiding a dark secret. Through flashbacks, the story reveals the past of her parents, Maxime and Tania, during the Second World War. They are Jewish survivors and their lives are intertwined with personal and historical dramas.
The film’s cast includes Patrick Bruel, Cécile de France, Ludivine Sagnier, Julie Depardieu and Mathieu Amalric. Nominated eleven times for the César, the feature film remained with the statuette as best supporting actress, awarded to Julie Depardieu for her performance as Louise, a nurse close to the family, who reveals the heavy family secret to François, and changes the his perception of things.
Is Claude Miller’s film based on a true story?
A secret is based on the autobiographical novel by Philippe Grimbert. This explored his discovery of a heavy family secret, rooted in the reality of World War II. The author himself underlined the autobiographical dimension of his book, declaring that it is a novel based on real events and characters inspired by his own family.
Despite the fictionalized element of the story, the narrative faithfully reflects the reality of the time. The author used his book to explore how the rise of Nazism, the German occupation, and the complex realities of Jewish families shaped his and his parents’ lives. He declared that he had “built a romantic story from fragments based on very real facts and characters”.
Philippe Grimbert met Claude Miller before shooting the film, but did not participate in the screenplay. It left the director and his co-writer Natalie Carter completely free for this adaptation, especially on the dialogues, which they had to invent from A to Z, because the book didn’t contain any. In this regard the author stated:
I (…) discovered what my characters say and it is a disturbing discovery for the author that I am. They acquired an existence and consistency that, ultimately, I hadn’t given them in the book. They got out of the book and started talking, even saying very everyday and prosaic things.
Philippe Grimbert is played on screen by Mathieu Amalric. but its name has been changed. The author explained why:
I was happy to be played by this wonderful actor. I have a total distance from my incarnation that doesn’t bother me unlike, for example, that of my parents. I simply refused to let this character be named Philippe like me. He seemed immodest to me. François, it’s much better!
Although the narrator’s name was changed, Claude Miller insisted that Philippe Grimbert appear A secret, and had him play a secondary role, that of a clandestine smuggler. A “symbolically very moving” appearance for the author.
Source: Cine Serie
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