Belle et Sébastien

Nicolas Vanier delivers a brilliant version of Belle and Sebastian, a story of friendship between an orphan and his Great Pyrenees dog in the middle of World War II.

High up in a village in the Alps, where chamois race with groundhogs and where mountain summits kiss the clouds, life was sweet until the Germans came and a Beast appeared killing the herds of sheep. A blood-thirsty monster who wanders the mountains killing sheep. The whole village wanted to kill it.

All except one. Sebastian, a wild boy raised in the shadows of the mountains, has sworn to defend the Beast. He is surrounded by Cesar, his taciturn grandfather, Angelina, like a sister to him, and William, the young village doctor. They are all trying to go about their lives despite German occupation and to escape Lieutenant Peter Braun’s malicious surveillance.

While Angelina, a baker, must provide more bread to Braun’s troops at all costs, Dr William is helping Jewish people cross the borders. One evening, on Christmas 1943, William is wounded and cannot reach a Jewish family waiting for him on the summits. Angelina, Sebastian and Belle will risk their lives to make sure the fugitives make it safety to freedom.
Yet war is full of surprises and the truth is never what we expect.

In a splendid setting, this is a magnificent story of bravery, friendship and love.