Brussels, in the summer of 1942. Simon watches in horror as his
father is arrested and deported by the Nazis. He flees to England
where he meets up with his grandfather, Abraham, a distant and austere
old man who offers him little comfort. It appears that the
two men have nothing in common. Abraham is devoted to the
traditions of his Jewish faith and scorns Simon's secular
education. When the horrors of the Holocaust are revealed
to them, it is Simon who allows his grandfather to come to terms with
an unbearable reality...
American film comedy had its heyday in the 1920s and '30s, but it remains an important genre and has given American cinema some of its enduring classics.
In the 1940s, the shadowy, skewed visual style of 1920s German expressionism was taken up by directors of American thrillers and psychological dramas, creating that distinctive film noir look.
From its birth in 1895, cinema has been an essential part of French culture. Now it is one of the most dynamic, versatile and important of the arts in France.
In the 1920s French cinema was at its most varied and stylish - witness the achievements of Abel Gance, Marcel L'Herbier, Jean Epstein and Jacques Feyder.