There have been a number of striking films that were set in the Nazi occupation of Paris. I can think offhand of two made by major directors: Joseph Losey’s elegantly constructed, despairing, frightening and Kafka-esque “Monsieur Klein” (1976) and Francois Truffaut’s delicate “The Last Metro” (1980), which is less about the politics of the occupation, though it is permeated with deeply personal memories of his being a child during a period of blackouts, black-market dealings, and the constant presence of Nazi troops. Still, Truffaut’s emphasis is on the actors’ interactions while putting on a play, not on the impact of Nazism, for the commitment to art is where Truffaut and his characters find primary meaning.
I have no intention of trying to compare Fred Cayayé’s “Farewell, Mr. Haffmann” to the more imaginative and complex works of the two aforementioned master filmmakers.
Cayayé’s film is based on the stage play by Jean-Philippe Daguerre and was performed in France, where it won a number of awards. It is essentially a character study—devoid of stylistic flourishes—and a serious, solid, and intelligent work.
The narrative sees the Jewish Haffmann family decide to leave the country covertly as the Nazis occupy Paris. Mr. Haffmann (Daniel Auteil), a jeweler, stays behind to make arrangements for their small shop before joining them. He sets the film in motion by making his new assistant, Joseph Mercier (Gilles Lellouche), who resents him, an offer to buy the shop and house on paper, but at no real cost. Hopefully, taking it back when he returns after France is liberated.
But Haffman is never able to leave Paris. He hides out in the store’s basement—totally dependent on Mercier, whose personality begins to change as he gradually takes power over Haffmann’s life. There is only one other significant character in the film: Mercier’s wife Blanche (Sara Giraudeau), more sensitive and caring than Mercier, who has begun to repel her, but she is also relatively fragile.
One problem with the film is that the role played by Auteil (a great actor, e.g., Haneke’s Caché) is underwritten; so much of the film’s dramatic tension and character development has to be carried by the Merciers. Mercier is frightened that the Nazis, to whom he sells jewelry, may discover that he is hiding a Jew, and his behavior towards Haffmann becomes more oppressively geared to protecting his and his wife’s survival. An added dimension that shapes Mercier’s behavior towards Haffmann is his professional jealousy of his success. The film contrives other problems for Mercier: He and his wife want a child, but so far he has been unable to impregnate her, and feels anxiety about his masculinity. So the film has Mercier blackmail Haffmann to impregnate Blanche. In fact, the film overdetermines why Mercier behaves as badly as he does towards Haffmann.
It is sufficient that he is frightened of being caught harboring a Jew for him to behave so cravenly. It is hard to judge others placed in these life-and-death situations and expect them to behave courageously.
The film concludes with a too tricky, somewhat happy ending that feels too pat. Still, if this film is not in the same league as Losey and Truffaut, it successfully captures the difficulty for an ordinary man who has lived a basically decent life to behave well when faced with both the need for survival and the seductions of success.
