A Bag Of Marbles

With the german occupation threatening their family s safety the boys parents decide maurice and joseph must disguise themselves and flee to their older brothers in the free zone.

A bag of marbles. A bag of marbles un sac de billes turns nazi occupied france into an obstacle course for two young jewish boys on the run and their plight into slickly sentimental thriller material for all. Despite their naiveté roman knows that their best chance to escape the nazi roundup is to flee on their own to vichy france where their older brothers albert and henri have found safe haven. The adventure of a jewish boy and his brother escaping nazi persecution in occupied france. At ages 10 and 12 the boys have so little understanding of the persecution of jews that joseph thinks nothing of swapping his yellow star for a bag of marbles.

In 1941 in occupied paris brothers maurice and joseph play a last game of marbles before running home to their father s barbershop. Yes the film recounts a real life tale of survival but the fate of its lead protagonists in no way diminishes the grueling hardships they face on every step of their journey. The great value of christian duguay s a bag of marbles is the degree to which it makes such a barbaric and bewildering chapter in human history comprehensible for young audiences.