The Nazis in Paris are the inspiration for many films, which mainly glorify the active fighters and not the little people, who were trampled under the Nazis. They show their difficult lives and the moral corruption they go through in a world with twisted laws.
The story of the film "Farewell Mr. Haffman" follows a Jewish family in Paris during the occupation under the Nazis, they are goldsmiths by profession, and educate a new assistant who arrives. The goal was to show the work to that assistant and then escape to Switzerland. However, the plan failed and the Nazis occupied Paris too quickly, so he must hide from them in the basement of the store.
Mr. Haffman the goldsmith (Daniel Otay) is Jewish and his assistant Francois (Jilles Leloche) is Christian. Francois begins as a submissive and admirer of Mr. Haffman, but everything changes quickly. He sells all the store's jewelry to the Nazis and does not transfer money to Haffman, forcing him to create new jewelry from stolen Jewish property. He even forces him to have relations with his wife (Sarah Giraudeau), in order to get her pregnant, abusing him both emotionally and physically.
As time passes, François and his wife turn the Jew into a servant and become similar to their Nazi enemies.
In the movie "Farewell Mr. Haffman" the acting is excellent and the plot is fascinating, and shows how good people, given the opportunity, become bad and corrupt. There is a very interesting discussion here about the human soul, about the Nazi occupation and what is the price of risking your life and how you should repay the debt.
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