Roger Hanin -then President François Mitterrand 's brother -in-law -had big ambitions -and probably a big budget too : "Le Grand Pardon" was intended as a French "Godfather" ,no less.Needless to say ,it's little short of disaster.The only reason why you would sit through these two hours + is the cast which features Bernard Giraudeau,Anny Duperey,Richard Berry,Jean-Louis Trintignant,Jean-Pierre Bacri.... Based on true facts,but it does not make this Jewish family saga exciting for all that.Alexandre Arcady even made a "Grand Pardon 2 " (1992) which took place in Miami (like DePalma's "Scarface" ) and featured Christopher Walken and Jill Clayburgh.

A very bad one : a story with all the stereotypes about jewish Pieds-Noirs. Hanin exagerates his manners and the result is nothing but a very caricatural image of a world that doesn't look like this. The actors themselves don't seem to believe in the movie. Better watch Once upon a time in America in which the jewish society is described quite rightly.