It's 1942 in the occupied city of Paris. Life is hard. People go to theater for the heat and rush to catch the last metro before curfew. Jews are being marginalized and hunted. Marion Steiner (Catherine Deneuve) runs the Théâtre Montmartre. She's mounting a new production as the lead actress and Bernard Granger (Gérard Depardieu) is the new leading man. She's also hiding her Jewish husband in the theater attic who is able to hear the rehearsals and give directing advice. Bernard is secretly a Resistance member.
This is part theater appreciation and part war occupation drama. I'm less enthralled with the theater appreciation. All of that stuff goes over my head. I would like to have the war insinuate more into the theater in the first half. It wouldn't kill the movie to have a Nazi French squad uncover hidden Jewish families at the beginning to pump up the tension. It would up the intensity if they're hiding more Jewish people. It would also up the moral imperative to save the theater and the danger from losing the place. The whole movie could use some upping of intensity.
This is part theater appreciation and part war occupation drama. I'm less enthralled with the theater appreciation. All of that stuff goes over my head. I would like to have the war insinuate more into the theater in the first half. It wouldn't kill the movie to have a Nazi French squad uncover hidden Jewish families at the beginning to pump up the tension. It would up the intensity if they're hiding more Jewish people. It would also up the moral imperative to save the theater and the danger from losing the place. The whole movie could use some upping of intensity.