"It's better to never say you're a Jew, and it's better to be slapped than to lose your life" – "A Bag of Marbles."
The story takes place in France, which was occupied by the Germans during World War II.
Young Morris and Joe live with their parents, their father Roman Joffer runs a barbershop, they are all Jewish, and the family of six lives a warm and happy life.
Since it is a Jewish barbershop, most of the customers who frequent it are Jewish, and the number of customers is slowly decreasing.
One day, two German officers and soldiers came to the shop, at first they did not know that it was a Jewish barbershop, and during the conversation they disdainfully revealed that the culprit of the war was the Jews.
After cutting off his head, the brothers' father looked firmly at the two German officers and said: "There are Jews sitting here."
However, the German officer did not take his father's words to heart, but just smiled and left, which showed that his father's small resistance and self-esteem had no effect.
That night, the Germans broadcast a message on the radio that all Jews were to wear the sign of the "Great Satellite" to distinguish them from others, and that if they did not comply, they would be fined or imprisoned, and the heaviest would be imprisoned in Jewish concentration camps.
This demand was unreasonable, and My Father had already seen that France was beginning to tolerate Jews.
The brothers felt that sewing the "Big Satellite" logo was not a big deal, but when they returned to school, they were immediately ostracized by their classmates, and the brothers got into a fight with someone else.
The brothers returned home with a wound on their faces, and the father, already aware of the gravity of the situation, knew the fate of the Jews under the persecution of the Germans, and had to leave the brothers alone to go to Nice to join the brothers, and demanded that they should not reveal their Jewish identities under any circumstances.
The brothers got on a train and waded through mountains and rivers, and there were many dangers along the way.
On the train they were confronted by the Germans, and they were able to escape under the cover of a good priest.
With the help of other refugees, the lonely and helpless brothers dodged the patrolling German cars and slept peacefully in a barn.
On the way to escape, the brothers relied on each other for their lives, and the younger brother's foot was broken, and the brother carried him on his back.
On the way, he met a kind driver, who took the brothers to the destination, the driver was humorous and generous, and there were talk and laughter along the way.
Along the way, with these kind people, the brothers were able to come to Nice safely.
The brothers meet their loved ones again, they enjoy a short period of happiness by the sea, and the younger brother asks his mother to swear that he will never leave them.
However, in times of war, any happiness is a luxury.
At his mother's birthday party, a beautiful Jewish song caught the attention of German officers and soldiers, and the brothers had to hide under the table.
They were separated again, and to protect the children's safety, the father sent the brothers to a government training camp for young soldiers, who were all of the same age as them, and like them, no one recognized them as Jews.
On a trip, the brothers were caught by the Germans, who beat and abused them, and Joe passed out after being abused.
They were sent by the Germans as rebels to a concentration camp, where they were once again tortured and beaten by the Germans, and forced to stay in this camp to work, without food or clothing every day.
Just when they were about to hold on, the brothers met a kind doctor, and with the help of the doctor they were finally saved.
Back at the camp, they received a call from their mother, who had been arrested, and their Jewish identities had been revealed, forcing the brothers to flee again in order to save their lives.
The brothers set out on the road to escape again, and finally settled down in Lumiy, and in order to earn a living, they each found jobs, the younger Joe worked as a newspaper delivery man, and the older brother Morris served dishes at the local restaurant, although it was hard, but the brothers finally survived to the end of the war.
Finally, Paris was liberated, and the brothers were once again reunited with their loved ones, but their father never returned after his arrest.
A Bag of Marbles is a war-themed film based on the memoirs of a Jew who was not yet ten years old when he experienced these hardships, and his brother Morris, who embarked on the road to escape with him, was not an adult at the time, and in order to save their lives, they absconded late at night, hiding from the patrolling German soldiers, they were accustomed to the cruelty of a single shot, and they hovered on the edge of life and death every day.
However, the film does not directly disclose the cruelty and bloodiness of the war, but tells the suffering from the perspective of a child, and the film is full of warm and touching scenes, but the cruelty behind the warmth is even more heartache.