Black Thursday 1974

On 16 July 1942 in Paris, Paul, a young student on the Left Bank, learns that the German-occupied city is rounding up Jewish residents for deportation. Driven by a impulse to resist the evil of the occupation and the collaborationist regime, he crosses to the Right Bank in a quiet but determined effort to save someone from the looming threat. The streets are tense, and the French police are everywhere, herding Jewish people from their homes and loading them onto commandeered buses. The authorities already know the lists of names and addresses, and the yellow star sewn to clothing makes it easy to identify who is at risk.

Paul moves through the crowd, trying to read people and their fears. Many he speaks to misunderstand the danger or mistrust his motives, but a young woman catches his attention—Jeanne—who is urgently pulled into a shop by its owner. Inside, the shopkeeper reveals that Jeanne’s mother and sister have just been taken, and he even cuts the yellow star from her jacket. With a blend of hesitation and hope, Jeanne agrees to let Paul escort her to the apartment of relatives. The plan is thwarted by orders to pack and move quickly; when the police arrive to take people away, the relatives hide both Paul and Jeanne, buying them a temporary, fragile shelter from the roundup.

Left without a clear destination, Jeanne is wary of trusting Paul completely, and the path out of the Jewish quarter remains perilous. Plainclothes police roam the streets, scrutinizing identities, and every step toward the river feels like crossing a line. The two spend moments pretending to steady their bond—brief closeness that helps them blend into the backdrop of fear rather than stand out as targets. They slip into a café frequented by prostitutes and their pimps, hoping to vanish into anonymity, but a plainclothes officer notices Jeanne.

Her narrow escape hinges on a quick intervention by a pimp, who knocks the cop to the floor and gives them a chance to slip away. The chase continues through the city’s shadowed corners, with danger lurking at every turn. Eventually they find themselves in the quiet, vast courtyard of the Louvre, where Paul speaks from the heart, detailing his motives and painting a vision of a better life they might share if they survive this perilous time.

From there, their journey crosses toward the bridge that links the right and left banks. Yet, as they reach halfway across toward the Left Bank, Jeanne experiences a sudden weight of doubt and fear, realizing she cannot go any further with him. The moment crystallizes the tension between courage and survival, leaving their fragile bond hanging in the balance as the city’s dark history presses ever closer.