A Love to Hide (French title: Un amour à taire) is a 2005 French film made for television, directed by Christian Faure. It is loosely based on the book Moi, Pierre Seel, déporté homosexuel by Pierre Seel.
Contents
Plot summary
The story is set in France during the Second World War.
A young Jewish girl, Sarah, attempts to escape persecution by the Third Reich after witnessing her parents and sister being brutally killed by a smuggler who betrays them during an attempt to flee to England. Traumatized, she is taken in by her childhood friend Jean, a gay man who is secretly involved in a relationship with his lover, Philippe.
For a time, they remain safe thanks to Jean’s plan to pass Sarah off as a Christian employee at his laundromat under the name Yvonne. However, a poor decision by Jean’s troublesome brother, Jacques, leads to Jean being falsely accused of having an affair with a German officer. As a result, Jean is arrested and sent to a Nazi labor camp.
Cast
Jeremie Renier as Jean Lavandier
Charlotte de Turckheim as Marcelle Lavandier
Bruno Todeschini as Philippe
Michel Jonasz as Armand Lavandier
Louise Monot as Sarah Morgenstern
Nicolas Gob as Jacques Lavandier
Olivier Saladin as Breton
Yulian Vergov as Johann Von Berg
Production
A Love to Hide is the second film of director Christian Faure dealing with homosexuality. He had previously directed Just a Question of Love (2000), a made-for-television film chronicling a love story between two young men.
This is one of few films about the deportation of homosexuals during World War II. (Also see Bent.) A Love to Hide is loosely based on the book Moi, Pierre Seel, déporté homosexuel by Pierre Seel published in 1994.
Reception
The Variety Magazine felt the film was sometimes "over-rigged in script and direction" but nonetheless gave a positive review.