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Summary: I hate when......
Review: people write reviews and give away the end of the movie....
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Summary: Trial and Triumph
Review: This film follows the story of a young German Jew during World War II. The son of a Pole, Salomon is sent East when the Germans invade Poland and ends up in the hands of the Soviets who pushed West at the same time. To avoid execution as a Soviet, Salomon declares his German heritage (leaving out his race) and joins the Nazis to survive. The film portrays the boy's struggle to keep his Jewish heritage a secret and his inner turmoil caused by his participation with the enemy. Truly an outstanding film.
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Summary: The oscar that never was.
Review: This film had been slated in 1991 to be the breakthrough European film of the year, only to be beaten out at the last minute by Indochine, a post-war drama that may have well deserved the spot. But this film delves deeper in to the mindset of Nazi Germany than any other film made of late. What is so interesting about it is that one, it is a true story (the book is equally good, if not better) and two, there haven't been a great number of films in the past few years that have had the guts to delve as deep as Holland did. Hofscnieder, for all his weak moments, did an outstanding job portraying a young man whose only weapon against a destroying force was himself.
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Summary: A World Turned Upside Down and Inside Out: Could You Survive
Review: This is one of the best films in the genre--historial film from autobiography. Marco Hofschneider brings to brilliant life the story of Salamon Perel, a German Jew. From the days of Kristallnacht--the Night of Broken Glass, when Jewish businesses were trashed and vandalized throughout Germany, to his final reunification with his brother--to poignant to say more about this here...this is a cinematic masterpiece.I've seen few films that capture the turmoil of adolescent identity and identification so well. True, the Nazi era is the backdrop, but the themes couldn't be more universal. In that respect, it is also more relevant today, in 2004, than during the 1980s, when it was filmed--especially in America, where the American identity has been deconstructed so as to be hardly palpable. Also, it is equally relevant in Europe, where national distinctions could meld into a Confederacy if not a Union of some power. Politics aside, this is an intensely personal film, one where the unquestioned identity of youth (German) falls victim to oncoming War and cruel happenstance. Perel must continually revise his vision OF himself and FOR himself, and at one point wishes for nothing more than to be an Nazi, for a beautiful young German girl becomes enfatuated with him. How did he end up in this position, wearing the uniform of the Hitler Youth at an Elite boarding school in Berlin? Or lose his virginity to a high-ranking female Party member while he is escorted by train from the Eastern Front to Berlin, as a Folk Hero (Volksdeutscher Held). Perhaps you think it unimaginable. I do not. I've seen places in German where the remnants of Jewish culture and tradition are clear as day--such as a former High School for Jews in Berlin--with Hebrew and German inscribed clearly in the stones. No, though Germany seems to some a heartless pillar of unemotionality, efficiency, heartlessness, the German characters in Europa, Europa are as human as those found anywhere. They fall victim to their personal aspirations, desire to please, deceitfulness, betrayal...simply put, human. Although current fashion is to think of the period as one of the "banality of evil" (attributed to Hannah Arendt, Holocaust scholar), this film exposes the period as one more of human triumph and tragedy, and that, while we grow into adulthood, our personal identity is as much at the mercy of the passage of time and events as a unique, solitary construction. See this film! It will draw you into the themes of Life, Love, and Redemption, and be over leaving you desperate for more.
Rating:
Summary: A World Turned Upside Down and Inside Out: Could You Survive
Review: This is one of the best films in the genre--historial film from autobiography. Marco Hofschneider brings to brilliant life the story of Salamon Perel, a German Jew. From the days of Kristallnacht--the Night of Broken Glass, when Jewish businesses were trashed and vandalized throughout Germany, to his final reunification with his brother--to poignant to say more about this here...this is a cinematic masterpiece. I've seen few films that capture the turmoil of adolescent identity and identification so well. True, the Nazi era is the backdrop, but the themes couldn't be more universal. In that respect, it is also more relevant today, in 2004, than during the 1980s, when it was filmed--especially in America, where the American identity has been deconstructed so as to be hardly palpable. Also, it is equally relevant in Europe, where national distinctions could meld into a Confederacy if not a Union of some power. Politics aside, this is an intensely personal film, one where the unquestioned identity of youth (German) falls victim to oncoming War and cruel happenstance. Perel must continually revise his vision OF himself and FOR himself, and at one point wishes for nothing more than to be an Nazi, for a beautiful young German girl becomes enfatuated with him. How did he end up in this position, wearing the uniform of the Hitler Youth at an Elite boarding school in Berlin? Or lose his virginity to a high-ranking female Party member while he is escorted by train from the Eastern Front to Berlin, as a Folk Hero (Volksdeutscher Held). Perhaps you think it unimaginable. I do not. I've seen places in German where the remnants of Jewish culture and tradition are clear as day--such as a former High School for Jews in Berlin--with Hebrew and German inscribed clearly in the stones. No, though Germany seems to some a heartless pillar of unemotionality, efficiency, heartlessness, the German characters in Europa, Europa are as human as those found anywhere. They fall victim to their personal aspirations, desire to please, deceitfulness, betrayal...simply put, human. Although current fashion is to think of the period as one of the "banality of evil" (attributed to Hannah Arendt, Holocaust scholar), this film exposes the period as one more of human triumph and tragedy, and that, while we grow into adulthood, our personal identity is as much at the mercy of the passage of time and events as a unique, solitary construction. See this film! It will draw you into the themes of Life, Love, and Redemption, and be over leaving you desperate for more.
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Summary: a most incredible, amazing story
Review: This is one of the best movies about World War II that I have seen. It is an almost unbelieveable story with incredible twists of fate of a young jewish boy. Watch it if you are interested in putting a human face to history and in particular to WWII.
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Summary: Gripping if whimsical treatment of WWII
Review: This is one of the most memorable films I have ever seen! The true story of one young man's harrowing trip through the ever-shifting, uncertain days of WWII in Poland and Russia. The performances are outstanding. One of Agnieszka Holland's best works, a film which really put her "on the map" as a director. Deadly serious but marked with delightful, light-hearted moments, "Europa, Europa" is not to be missed.
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Summary: Fact that's stranger than fiction
Review: This is the most incredible film I've ever seen. See the review of the book for details. The video is in German, subtitled in English, but that in no way interferes with the telling of the story. END
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Summary: I love this movie !!!
Review: This movie is excellent! I can't believe more of my friends don't know this movie. It is truly an underrated movie by mainstream people, especially since it's a true story about a holocaust survivor. Even the music score is awesome. The music was written by Zbigniew Preisner, who has the most intense and sad music ever written for a holocaust movie. It's a crime that this movie is underrated by the mainstream. At least it won many film awards by independent film makers back in the early 1990s. There is justice afterall!!!
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Summary: Rock on!!
Review: This movie is in the league of "All Quite on the Western Front." Rarely does one witness a movie of such genius. A true story that would endear the most cynical. The ending is beyond human reason. Watch it and celebrate being human.
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