Review of A Love to Hide (2005) by Jerome K — 11 Nov 2011

I went to the Reeling Film Festival a few years ago and saw a couple movies. This was the first one I saw. (The Reeling Film Festival is an annual chicago gay and lesbian international film festival.) It's a good thing I saw this first because this was one depressing movie.

This french film is about 2 gay lovers and their girl friend, and it is set in WWII Paris. As you can imagine, they have to hide their love (and it's also complicated by the girl being in love with one of the guys).

However, the Nazis have taken control of France and things soon become a matter of life and death. There have been so many stories about the Jews during the Holocaust, but so very little about the other groups (such as homosexuals) that were targeted by the Nazis.

This movie just made me really angry because it made me realize that while we have learned a lot from the Holocaust, we still have a long way to go before overcoming homophobia. The only part I didn't like was the ham-fisted ending where, in present time, the survivor visits the memorial for the victims.

(I guess cliche would be the best word to use.) Otherwise, even though the plot was simple, it was very real and told a compelling story.