A Bag of Marbles (2017 film)

A Bag of Marbles
French film poster
FrenchUn sac de billes
Directed byChristian Duguay
Written by
  • Christian Duguay
  • Benoît Guichard
  • Jonathan Allouche
  • Alexandra Geismar
  • Laurent Zeitoun
Based onUn sac de billes
by Joseph Joffo
Produced by
  • Nicolas Duval Adassovsky
  • Joe Iacono
  • Laurent Zeitoun
  • Yann Zenou
  • Lyse Lafontaine
  • Gaëtan David
  • Tanguy Dekeyser
  • Marc Jenny
  • Jean-Charles Levy
  • André Logie
Starring
CinematographyChristophe Graillot
Edited byOlivier Gajan
Music byArmand Amar
Production
companies
Quad Productions
Main Journey
Distributed byGaumont Film Company
Release dates
  • 15 January 2017 (2017-01-15) (Paris premiere)
  • 18 January 2017 (2017-01-18)
Running time
110 minutes
CountriesFrance
Canada
Czech Republic
LanguageFrench
Budget$21.4 million
Box office$9.1 million[1]

A Bag of Marbles (French: Un sac de billes) is a 2017 French drama film directed by Christian Duguay, based on the autobiographical novel A Bag of Marbles by Joseph Joffo. It is the second time the novel has been made into a film after Un sac de billes (1975). The film won the Best Narrative Audience Award at the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival 37.[2] The film was also a jury prize competitor at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.[3]

Plot

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In occupied France during World War II, two young Jewish brothers, Maurice and Joseph, are sent by their parents to the Zone libre, and display courage, intelligence and ingenuity as they escape the occupiers and try to reunite their family.

At the very end of the film, Maurice and Joseph, who became barbers like their father, are shown in the present day (2017) in a Paris cafe.

Cast and characters

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Reception

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On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 83% based on 24 reviews, and an average rating of 7.3/10.[4] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[5]

Hannah Brown of The Jerusalem Post called A Bag of Marbles "One of the best movies told about the holocaust from a child’s point of view".[6]

The film was shot in the south of France and in Žatec, Czech Republic.

References

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  1. ^ "Un sac de billes (2017)". JP's Box-Office. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Audience Award Winners" Archived 3 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival.
  3. ^ "A Bag of Marbles". Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  4. ^ "A Bag of Marbles (Un sac de billes) (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  5. ^ "A Bag of Marbles Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  6. ^ Brown, Hannah (13 April 2017). "Roll with 'A Bag of Marbles'". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
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