Friendship in Vienna (1988) Review

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(More customer reviews)It's odd that Disney withdrew this video since it is perhaps one of the finest made about the Holocaust, particularly the difficult decisions that both gentiles and Jews had to make about their relationships after the Nazi anschluss with Austria. Unlike Denmark, which held no inherent animosity toward Danish Jews, the situation was not the same in Austria. There was far more pressure put upon Austrians to join the Nazis' anti-semitic frenzy, and many Austrians willingly joined in. This movie takes the situation to the difficult personal and family level. It is proof of that song in "South Pacific"--"You Have to be Carefully Taught" (to hate and fear)--is right on the money. The two movies complement each other perfectly, showing two different situations and how each of them ultimately evolved.

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Holocaust (The Mini-Series) (1978) Review

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(More customer reviews)I watched this on network tv when it premiered. It's even harder to watch it today. With twenty years of ethnic cleansings, and smaller holocausts under our belts, one of the major themes of the story holds even truer. If we aren't very very careful any of us can become a killer.

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Plot Summary for "Holocaust" (1978) (mini)"Holocaust" follows each member of the Jewish Family Weiss throughout Hitler's reign in Germany. One by one, the family members suffer the horrible fate of extermination under Anti-Semetic Nazi Law until only one son remains at the end of World War II. A sub-plot follows the story of Eric Dorf, a young German lawyer with a good heart who is changed into a mass murderer by membership in the SS.Summary written by Anthony Hughes

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Schindler's List Collector's Gift Set (1993) Review

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(More customer reviews)Meet Oskar Schindler. A German living in occupied Poland during World War II. A member in good standing of the Nazi party. A womanizer, a war profiteer...and ultimately a man of conscience. A man who became one of the great unsung heroes and humanitarians of the war.
"Schindler's List" chronicles Oskar Schindler's spiritual odyssey from war profiteer to humanitarian and hero. Winner of seven Academy Awards® in 1993, including Best Picture, this harrowing and heart-rending film is Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, and perhaps one of the finest and most important movies ever made. It depicts Schindler's ultimately successful attempt to rescue 1,100 Jews from Hitler's "Final Solution" by getting them to safety outside Poland.
Dynamic performances abound in this beautiful movie, Especially noteworthy are Liam Neeson as the suave Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as the monstrously depraved Nazi colonel, Amon Goeth, and Ben Kingsley as the dignified, principled Jewish prisoner Itzhak Stern.
"Schindler's List" is definitely not light entertainment! This beautiful movie allows viewers to feel like they're actually a part of one of the darkest, most horrific periods in history. (I'm sure this is the reason the film was shot in black-and-white, with only minor "colorized" bits included.) The story of the Holocaust needs to be told over and over again, in hopes that future generations can understand the horrors perpetrated on an entire race of people and prevent future occurrences. "Schindler's List" is perhaps one of the best and most effective vehicles for telling that story I've ever experienced.

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Schindler's List (1993) Review

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(More customer reviews)Meet Oskar Schindler. A German living in occupied Poland during World War II. A member in good standing of the Nazi party. A womanizer, a war profiteer...and ultimately a man of conscience. A man who became one of the great unsung heroes and humanitarians of the war.
"Schindler's List" chronicles Oskar Schindler's spiritual odyssey from war profiteer to humanitarian and hero. Winner of seven Academy Awards® in 1993, including Best Picture, this harrowing and heart-rending film is Steven Spielberg's masterpiece, and perhaps one of the finest and most important movies ever made. It depicts Schindler's ultimately successful attempt to rescue 1,100 Jews from Hitler's "Final Solution" by getting them to safety outside Poland.
Dynamic performances abound in this beautiful movie, Especially noteworthy are Liam Neeson as the suave Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as the monstrously depraved Nazi colonel, Amon Goeth, and Ben Kingsley as the dignified, principled Jewish prisoner Itzhak Stern.
"Schindler's List" is definitely not light entertainment! This beautiful movie allows viewers to feel like they're actually a part of one of the darkest, most horrific periods in history. (I'm sure this is the reason the film was shot in black-and-white, with only minor "colorized" bits included.) The story of the Holocaust needs to be told over and over again, in hopes that future generations can understand the horrors perpetrated on an entire race of people and prevent future occurrences. "Schindler's List" is perhaps one of the best and most effective vehicles for telling that story I've ever experienced.

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The Odessa File (1974) Review

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(More customer reviews)The year is 1963...as the world is reeling from the assassination of President Kennedy, Egypt has missiles posed to annihilate Israel. The only thing preventing this is the lack of guidance technology to properly target the missiles, which Egypt is on the verge of obtaining with assistance from a group of Germans, once officers within the SS during World War II, now members of a group called Odessa, a clandestine organization designed to assist ex-German military personal gain new identities and lives, thereby avoiding capture, after the end of the war.
The Odessa File (1974) takes the popular Frederick Forsyth novel of the same name, which is supposedly based on actual facts and events, and presents it as a truly wonderful, tense thriller that I really enjoyed. Directed by accomplished cinematographer and director Ronald Neame, the film stars Jon Voight as freelance German journalist Peter Miller and Maximilian Schell as an ex-German officer named Eduard Roschmann, a man responsible for horrible atrocities, earning him the nickname `The Butcher', during his tenure as head of a concentration camp which housed Jewish prisoners. After the passing of an elderly Jewish survivor of a WWII concentration camp, Miller comes into possession of a diary kept by the man, one which detailed, in particular, the various crimes against humanity by Roschmann, and also seemed to indicate that the war criminal may still be alive. As Miller begins delving into the story, uncovering tidbits of information, he meets resistance in the form of various individuals, many of which turn out to be members of the secret Odessa organization, and are now actively working against Miller for fears that he may uncover their secrets.
As Miller gets closer to uncovering the truths, the resistance against him grows, and takes the form of actual attempts on his life. Around this time he comes into contact with a Jewish group, working to locate the site within Germany that's developing the guidance system for the Egyptian rockets, and Miller agrees to work with them, changing his identity in order to become an ex-German officer and enable him access to the Odessa organization. In exchange for this, Miller will supply the group with information, while he himself tries to get closer to Roschmann. As Miller infiltrates the group, his cover is eventually blown, but not before he learns of the existence of the Odessa file, documents that detail many of the members within the group, including Roschmann. The goal now is survival, and given the circumstances, his chances seem pretty slim.
I have not actually read the book, but I really liked this film. Jon Voight is wonderful and believable, German accent and all, as a reporter, seemingly driven by a determination to expose a subversive hideousness, once prominent in his country, that has now gone underground, and threatens yet again a great many peoples of the world. Listed as a thriller/drama, The Odessa File certainly doesn't disappoint. The plot, while having many twists and turns, keeps focused, and rarely falters in its' progression. The development of the characters is carefully planned, but not so to bring attention to the fact, allowing for the viewer to become drawn into the film. The exposition at the beginning was a little awkward to me, but I didn't see any other way around it, so I accepted it. Schell provides an excellent performance as an ex-German officer hiding in broad daylight, one who will resort to any means necessary to protect his secrets, along with those of the Odessa group. One point I enjoyed was near the end, as a particular revelation was made. Prior to that point, I had started to question one of the main character's motivations, and, as if the film knew what I was thinking, it answered my question in a completely satisfying manner. The film runs just over two hours, and the first half may seem slow, but I felt as if this was deliberate, allowing time for the story to develop. During the second half the film picks up speed as the tension mounts, drawing on the momentum carefully constructed in the beginning, resulting in a wholly enjoyable conclusion. Given the nature of realizing novels to film, I suspect a number of plot elements were left out, but what was left seemed to be missing very little, at least anything that left a glaring hole which would pull the viewer out of the movie with its' obviousness, which indicates a skillful adaptation of original source material, done with care to preserve the elements which made the book so very popular and well received. All in all, this is a really thrilling outing, one that requires a little patience, but provides a rewarding experience overall.
Presented on this release are really good looking prints, both in wide screen and full screen formats (it's double-sided). The audio seems a bit soft, but there are English subtitles, so I missed nothing. As far as special features, there are some well put together production notes in a four page booklet within the DVD case, an original theatrical trailer, talent biographies for actors Voight, Schell, and director Neame, and trailers for Anaconda (1997) and Oliver Stone's U-Turn (1997), neither film as good as this one, but both certainly benefiting from Voight's appearance...and that's another thing...remember when Jon Voight appeared in good films? Along with this film, I also count Midnight Cowboy (1969), Catch-22 (1970), Deliverance (1972), and Runaway Train (1985) to be some real highlights of his career...and let's look at some of his more recent films...Most Wanted (1997), The Karate Dog (2004), and Baby Geniuses 2 (2004)...not exactly the caliber of films early in his career, but who knows what the future holds?
Cookieman108

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A German journalist sets out to track down a Nazi war criminal, and discovers the existence of a secret Nazi organization called Odessa.Genre: Feature Film-DramaRating: PGRelease Date: 28-AUG-2001Media Type: DVD

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The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) Review

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(More customer reviews)Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel once wrote that dramatizing the Holocaust was a futile task, not because dramatization could not be done, but because any such attempt would trivialize the evil inherent in the Nazi persecution of the Jews. Wiesel had good reason for his belief, having directly experienced what circumstances were like at the Auschwitz death camp.
In one sense I agree with Wiesel; however, I also agree with those, such as director George Stevens, who believed that dramatization served the critical purpose of informing the public of what occurred during the Nazi era. Further, as Otto Frank maintained, it was important that audiences realized that what his family and other Jewish people endured was not something restricted to Jews, but was, rather, an object lesson for the persecution of all people forced to endure the tyranny of genocidal regimes.
In a sense, therefore, it's inevitable that Stevens' filming of 'The Diary of Anne Frank' both failed and succeeded. It failed in that it commercialized the Holocaust, as every dramatic production is forced to do. But it succeeded in its educational mission, especially considering that at the time of its release in 1959, few people were aware of Anne Frank's diary, or of the Holocaust generally.
Seeing the film today, it is still a powerful experience. Admittedly, as an aspect of its commercial treatment, certain elements were introduced that either were not in the original diary ---- such as the stealing of bread by Albert Dussell (pseudonym of Friedrich Pfeffer) ---- or were exaggerated for dramatic reasons (the love interest between Anne and Peter Van Dann). But the overall power of the basic situation ---- the intense atmosphere of tension and claustrophobia ---- and the story of Anne Frank's adolescent transformation and her growing awareness of the transformation of Dutch society through Nazi oppression ---- gives us a window on the Holocaust which is unique. The film, like the diary, holds up a mirror of conscience in what must have seemed at the time to be a world of sprawling insanity. Anne Frank triumphs, as the Nazis emphatically did not, in transcending the contradictions within herself, and as a consequence her idealism shines through at the end (even if this, too, was exaggerated for cinematic reasons).
Millie Perkins, who plays Anne in the film, has sometimes been slighted for her ostensibly awkward performance, but I believe this is a cynical and unjust criticism. For one thing, Perkins was not a trained actress, but rather a model who happened to have the right look and personality for the part. But as both the documentary and one of the other supplements on this DVD point out, this was precisely why George Stevens chose her for the role. He wanted an unknown actress, not a professional who would 'impose' her persona on the character. He believed ---- and I think correctly ----- that her look of innocence, and aura of adolescent idealism, were perfect for what he desired, and it's ultimately these qualities which impress us by their contrast with the horrific circumstances that surrounded her.
The other cast members are also superb. Though Shelley Winters won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress, virtually all the actors, especially Joseph Schildkraut and Ed Wynn, are equally brilliant. In fact, Schildkraut not only physically resembled Otto Frank, but, according to Anne Frank's cousin (interviewed as part of the accompanying documentary, 'Echoes of the Past'), was also similar to him in terms of personality and demeanor. Wynn, for his part, turns in an amazingly convincing performance in a serious role, playing completely against type.
Whatever the liberties taken by the screenplay writers for 'Diary,' the film remains faithful to the core experiences related in Anne Frank's journal ---- both to her inner emotions and conflicts with her family, and to her widening awareness of her family's place in the overall scheme of Nazi terror. The fact that this DVD transfers the film in such superior video and audio quality, and adds several excellent supplements (including a first-rate 90-minute documentary), makes this disc a fine addition to anyone's video collection.

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A diary discovered in the attic of an Amsterdam factory reveals the plight of a jewish refugee family that lived there in hiding for two years during the Nazi occupation.

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Anne Frank - The Whole Story (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)As i write this review, this film is just finishing up, and I must say, this is one of the most moving accounts of Anne Frank that I've seen to date. We all know the story of Anne Frank, how it started, and what a complete tragic end of her life; and more importantly, what hope she brought to the world that killed her. This film is a remarkable, incredible retelling of the life of Anne Frank.
The reasons why this film soars, aboslutely soars, are numerous. First, the film tells the complete story, from before the Franks hid in the Annex, until her final days in the concentration camp. Whereas some films tend to linger solely on Anne's days in the Annex, this wider focus gives us the larger picture. Anne's time in captivity is heart wrenching; we have fallen in love with the tempestuous, darling girl and to see her solely fade away is devastating. It serves as a testament both to the millions lost, and the one girl that would write a book to change the world.
Secondly, the performances in this movie are amazing. Ben Kingsley and Brenda Blethyn lend their star-stature names to this project, and turn in performances that are real and dignified. Favorite Lili Taylor, who is one of America's most talented actressses, gives a quiet, powerful performance as Miep Gies. It's Hannah Taylor Gorden, as Anne, brings Anne to life with complexity and grace. Gordon honors Anne in every scene, never deifying the girl, but making her real, human. She even writes the way Anne did, holding the pen as Anne would have held it. That attention to detail does not go unnoticed by those of us who love Anne. It was a perfect match of actress and role.
Third, this film is visually beautiful. Often, you expect a "lower" standard of technical excellence in a television film. Rightfully so, ABC and the director, Robert Dornhelm, give this film a professional style. There are several scenes where you are just in awe, apart from the incredible story.
It was sad for me to learn that this film was not endorsed by the Anne Frank Foundation, because the film was based on a biography not approved by the foundation. Whereas I think its important to have the Foundation so Anne's life can be told in a honest way, they should have seen the film before making a judgment. This movie is a beautiful testament to a beautiful life, and it should be free from any political wranglings like this.
By the final scene, when Miep gives Otto Frank his daughter's diary, and he travels back into the Annex to look at it, my heart was breaking. Anne didn't live to see the effect she'd have on the world, but I think for all of us, we have adopted Anne as our own daughter or sister. She belongs to the world now, and we are responsible to take care of her, to make sure her story is told generation after generation, to honor her life by ensuring nothing like this ever happens in history again.

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Ben Kingsley, Brenda Blethyn, and Hannah Taylor Gordon star in the stirring tale of one of the most influential young women of the 20th century. Based on Melissa Muller's critically acclaimed book, ANNE FRANK goes beyond the story you already know and paints the true portrait of Anne both before and after she went into hiding. Get to know the high-spirited and popular girl before the war, and experience the challenges of the brave people who risked their lives trying to keep her safe. ANNE FRANK also explores the enduring mystery of who betrayed the Frank family and reveals what happened next.

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Uprising (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Uprising" is a story of the Holocaust that really could not be told until NBC showed this two-part made-for-television movie in 2001. The story of the Warsaw ghetto uprising has been told before. In the 1978 mini-series "Holocaust," a major subplot had to do with Moses Weiss (Sam Wanamker), who becomes active in the uprising before being caught and shot by the Nazis at the end. Other movies dealing with the Holocaust have touched on this heroic but futile act of resistance against Hitler's army. This time, however, the point is to cast the uprising in terms that count for more than a moral victory.
When Poland fell to Nazi Germany the city's Jewish population was put into a walled in section of the city, thereby creating the ghetto. In the summer of 1942, after 300,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to Treblinka the first reports of mass murder were heard in the Warsaw ghetto. Mordecai Anielewicz, then 23-years-old, and other young Jews formed the Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (Jewish Fighting Organization), issuing proclamations calling for the Jewish people to resist being sent away in railroad cars to the death caps, and firing upon German troops trying to round by Jews for deportation.
The "Uprising" began on April 19, 1943, when German troops and police entered the ghetto and were repulsed by the fighters. It is believed that less than a thousand such fighters held off the heavily armed and better trained Germans for almost a month, using mostly pistols and Molotov cocktails, but on May 16 the revolt was finally crushed. Seven thousand of the 56,000 Jews captured were shot, and the rest were deported to either killing centers or concentration camps to be exterminated by the Nazis. At one point the Warsaw ghetto consisted of 450,000 human beings.
The point of "Uprising" is not only that for the first time somebody stood up against German occupation, but that some of the fighters did indeed survive. Mordechai Anielewicz (Hank Azaria), Yitzhak Zuckerman (David Schwimmer), Tosia Altman (Leelee Sobieski), and many others depicted in "Uprising" are historic figures. Azaria and Schwimmer obviously stand out, not because of the roles they play in the narrative but also because the actors are going to great pains to remind fans they are not just comic actors. Also standing out are Sadie Frost as Zuckerman's wife, Zivia, and Stephen Moyer as freedom fighter Kazik Rodem, who wrestle with the hard questions of not only knowing what to do, but how to do it. Director and executive producer Jon Avnet has recreated the ghetto in great detail and makes full use of cinematographer Denis Lenoir and composer Maurice Jarre to make sure this television movie looks and sounds like a theatrical film.
"Uprising" repeatedly asks the question of how a moral person can sustain a moral code in an immoral world, and the uprising serves as the obvious answer. Where "Uprising" is different from its predecessors is how Avnet recasts history to emphasize a sense of how the Jews "win" here. Even though the Nazis will kill 99% of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto, they did not get them all and they did not get them fast enough to please Himmler and Hitler. Nazi General Jurgen Stroop has to endure being out thought and out fought by a bunch of rabble, all the way having his failure filmed by documentarian Fritz Hippler, who is working on "The Eternal Jew" because for some reason the Nazis do not find the German people to be anti-Semitic enough. The Nazis continue to commit atrocities throughout this movie, but the emphasis is clearly on what the other side is doing.
"The Grey Zone," which also came out in 2001, is of a similar mind in terms of presenting Jews fighting back, and depicts the October 7, 1944 uprising when members of the 12th sonder-kommando succeeded in blowing up two of the four crematoria at Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The sonder-kommandos were the ones who escorted their fellow Jews to die in the gas chambers, then took the bodies to the crematoriums, and disposed of the ashes. For four months the sonder-kommandos carried out their duties, and enjoyed certain privileges (compared to the other inmates), and then were executed. This group of Jews also decided to fight back and like those who resisted the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto, deserve to be remembered. But only once we have accepted the total horror and scope of the Holocaust can we tell stories such as these, ever mindful that they represent a minority report. How many of you were stunned with a train full of Jews left Auschwitz in "Schindler's List"? The incident was true, but it becomes difficult for us to accept that other side of the story given the overwhelming death count of the Final Solution.
The two commentary tracks are a mixed bag. Avnet spends too much time commenting on the historical accuracy of the action and not enough talking about his decisions as a director, particularly with regards to what changes he had to make when his planned theatrical film was downgraded to a television movie. Azaria, Schwimmer, and Voight recorded their commentary two weeks about September 11th, and engage each other to talk about the production and their performances. Sobieski's comments were recorded separately and edited in, and like Avent, she has a hard time going it alone. There are two documentaries accompanying "Uprising." "Resistance" is a too brief look at the history of the resistance movement in the Warsaw ghetto, although it does provide background on the characters and interviews with some of the surviving fighters. "Breaking Down the Walls: The Road to Recreating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising," is a behind the scenes featurette with clips and interviews. However, anyone inspired to find out more about the history of the events dramatized here will find plenty of resources easily accessible on the Internet.

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After Germany invades Poland in 1939, the Nazis decree that 350,000 Warsaw Jews be forcibly moved into a cordoned area known as the Warsaw Ghetto. Idealistic teacher Mordechai Anielewicz (Hank Azaria) decides the Jews must rise up against the Nazis and creates the Jewish Fighting Organization (JFO).He tries to secure the support of Adam Czerniakow (Donald Sutherland), the morally conflicted head of the Warsaw Ghetto's Jewish Council, but Adam declines because he knows that any act of resistance will provoke the Germans to retaliate by killing innocent Jews.Determined to mobilize a resistance alone if he has to, Mordechai recruits his friends and covert couriers whose ability to pass as Aryan helps them smuggle in arms and explosives from the Aryan side of the city, building up an arsenal to fight the Nazis. When the Germans begin deporting 300,000 Jews to the Treblinka death camp, the JFO begins acts of resistance that culminate with ghetto fighters firing their first gunshots against the Nazis.When it becomes clear that the JFO is a force to be reckoned with, the German High Command sends in General Stroop (Jon Voight), who is determined to end the uprising in two or three days. Capturing the horror that unfolds is Fritz Hippler (Cary Elwes), a filmmaker assigned by Hitler's chief propagandist to promote anti-Semitism with a film about Jewish life in the ghetto. When the Nazis continue to suffer more casualties in their battle with the ghetto fighters, General Stroop decides to raze the ghetto.But even that can't stop the JFO.Forced to go underground into bunkers but energized by their success, the resisters fight on, ultimately holding off the Nazi army longer than the entire country of Poland.They're determined to live with honor--and if need be, die with honor--while lighting the torch for resistance in the occupied territories.

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Adam Resurrected (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)After a close friend "insisted" that I watch this film, I was absolutely torn apart by it, at times entertained by it and left with indelible images and feelings that may never leave me. It is a stunningly woven story of humanity at the peak of its potential for courage and resilience, as well as its unspeakable cruelty and taste for inflicting pain. I was startled, however, to discover that I was in the minority in my assessment. Most reviews, professional and otherwise, are either mixed or unfavorable. Is it too hard to take this film in? And if so, is it because of its intellectual or emotional demands - or both? As a psychologist and a Jew, let me say that I have never been made to feel the complex horrors of the holocaust on this level. Jeff Goldblum's performance is criminally unrecognized; it is the work of genius he has never before manifested. Perhaps the genius Goldblum found in the story itself, and in Paul Schrader's direction moved him to new heights. The rest of the cast is brilliant as well.
Adam Resurrected deals unflinchingly with the excruciating, bitterly ironic issues that Hitler's slaughterhouses have evoked in the area of faith and the Jewish attitude toward the God whose deliverance of their ancestors from slavery is celebrated year after year. The ironies and metaphors throughout the film involving men and dogs say more than any words of praise could possibly express.
Suffice it to say that this is, in my humble opinion, one of the finest films of the last decade, and perhaps the best work of art on the holocaust of all time. It is demanding, complex and disturbing, but highly worth your time and attention.

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Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, The Fly) as Adam Stein delivers one of the most powerful performances of his career in this compelling, unforgettably moving film. Tormented in a World War II concentration death camp by a high-ranking Nazi officer (Oscar® nominee* Willem Dafoe, Spider-Man), Adam spends the next 15 years tucked away in a remote experimental insane asylum with fellow Holocaust victims. Clinging to the remains of his sanity, Adam uses his amazing magic and comic skills to entertain the residents and develops a relationship with an attractive nurse (Ayelet Zurer, Angels & Demons). But only when he reaches out to a mentally scarred young boy does he begin to confront his own pain and guilt and start to heal in this extraordinary testament to the fierce resilience of the human spirit. *Best Supporting Actor: Platoon, 1986; Shadow of the Vampire, 2000

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Never Forget (1991) Review

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(More customer reviews)An outstanding movie of gripping determination and bulldog tenacity!
Leonard Nimoy and Blythe Danner play Mr. & Mrs. Mel Mermelstein, a true-life California couple, thrown into the spotlight of judicial history in the 1980's. He is a Hungarian-born Jew, sole-survivor of his family's extermination at Auchwitz, and she is a Southern Baptist from Tennessee. Their four children are good kids, typical Americans, with just enough spunk and orneriness to irritate each other, but enough love and class to pull together when it counts.
When challenged by a hate group to prove that Jews were actually gassed at Auchwitz, Mel Mermelstein rises to the occasion with the support of his wife and children, in spite of the dangers to himself, his business, and his family.
Dabney Coleman provides Mel's legal help (pro bono) as a lawyer, originally a Roman Catholic from Texas, and brilliantly and believably fits out a role that is my personal favorite among any role he has ever played.
Leonard Nimoy is brilliant as always, and aside from playing Golda Meir's husband opposite Ingrid Bergman, if there was ever a role that shattered his Spock image, this would be it. (Not that I dislike Spock. On the contrary!) Nimoy plays a man who is empassioned, vulnerable to an extent, but tenaciously determined to prove the hate groups to be liars.
Why so committed to such a course? Because before Mermelstein's father died in Auchwitz, he commissioned Mel and his brother (who died shortly thereafter) to "Never Forget" what happened, and to bear witness to the facts of history. Mel Mermelstein did just that, and the United States finally took Judicial Notice of the truth of the Holocaust, some 40 years after WWII.
A great movie! (I taped mine off of TNT a few years ago, when it aired this movie in timed connection with the network premeir of Schindler's List, and this airing was hosted by Leonard Nimoy. I have since worn out my tape. I plan to buy a professional copy when the price drops.)

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All My Loved Ones Review

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(More customer reviews)All My Loved Ones is the story of a young Czech boy named David Silberstein and his large 'family'. At the start of the movie, we meet David's family, such as his best friend Sosha. During the course of the movie, we see how, little by little, the nazis begin to take control of the Jews life, starting with small things such as cars, and working up to David's father's (Dr. Silberstein) job. At long last, The Silbersteins make a last attempt to save David by putting him up for adoption in Great Britain, thanks to English stockbroker Nicholas Winton, who saved hundreds of children through this method.
This movie is very historically accurate, and is also a very good story.
But, I must warn you, be ready to cry your heart out!!!

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Matej Minac's heartbreaking and poignant story of one family's experience at the onset of World War II is inspired by the heroics of English stockbroker Nicholas Winton who saved hundreds of Czech Jewish children from the Nazis and is loosely based on his own mother's personal memories of the time.

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Sophie's Choice (1982) Review

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(More customer reviews)Alan Pakula brings the Styron novel to the screen with period-perfection, and he has in his court a trio of superb performances, lead, of course, by Meryl Streep, who finally won me over with her transformation into Sophie. The character is layered and rich with emotional baggage, and Meryl's performances is nothing short of transcendental. When I saw this movie in the theatre upon its release, there was an older woman in the audience, towards the front, who ran screaming from the theatre, her hands on her ears, during the gut-twisting "choice" sequence. Kevin Kline and Peter MacNicol, who do battle over Sophie, and within their own hearts, are exceptional foils for Sophie, and each brings a resonance to the evocative Brooklyn locations. The European sequences, swathed in a sepia tone, are mesmerizing and horrific. Sophie's journey is also a mystery, and it unravels with devastating results. Marvin Hamlish designed the lush musical score, which continues to rip my heart open every time I play it. While Schindler's List is a more gigantic vision of the experience of the Holocaust, this movie is intensely personal, but does perhaps more to drive a stake through your heart. You will continue to wonder, long after the haunting images of Sophie's face fade from view, what might you have done in her shoes?

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SOPHIE'S CHOICE - DVD Movie

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Sunshine (2000) Review

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(More customer reviews)It is too bad that so few people saw this film -- one of the best films of 2000. It focuses upon several generations of an ambitious Jewish family in Austria-Hungary. Its message is sad: in 20th century Eastern Europe, the Jews had no hope integrating -- not with the Emperor, not with the Nazis, and not with the Communists. This Jewish family certainly tried. They fought in World War I, the family gave up its Jewish name, one of them married a Catholic and converted to Catholicism, etc. But nothing was ever enough, and anti-Semitism led to tragedy after tragedy. The film ends while the Communists control Hungary. The youngest member of the family naively had worked for the Communists but became disillusioned. He reclaims the family's Jewish name and walks away from politics and the public realm altogether. We know that he sees the socio-political situation much more clearly than did his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He knows that he has a choice: endorse official anti-Semitism (and even then risk being accused of conspiring with Zionists) or be a Jew and take the diminished stature in Hungarian society that comes with it. There is no middle way -- the family's multigenerational drive to accomodate Judaism with financial and political success has failed.
This film has a sweep like few others today. It spans generations, tackles big historical events, and wrestles with serious themes. It is well worth seeing if you like serious cinema. Highly recommended.

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Europa Europa (1990) Review

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(More customer reviews)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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This "incredible, true story" (Los Angeles Times) is at once "eye-opening, harrowing and humorous" (Leonard Maltin) as it recounts the severe actions a young boy must take in order to survive the Holocaust. Based on the autobiography of Solomon Perel, a young German Jew, the film "bounds from one jaw-dropping episode to the next" (The New Yorker) and puts you in the middle of war-torn Europe where ingenuity, timing and luck are the key to survival.Separated from his family at the age of thirteen, Solly (Marco Hofschneider) takes on various identities to hide his Jewishheritage. First passing himself off as an orphan and later as one of the "Hitler Youth," Solly carries on his charade, hoping desperately to keep his identity hidden and make it through the war alive.

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Testament (1983) Review

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(More customer reviews)Two anti-war films were released in 1983: The Day After and TESTAMENT. The former, released in the US as a made-for-TV movie, was visually sensational: missile launches, mushroom clouds, disfigured survivors, urban landscapes turned debris fields. However, the latter illustrates the notion that an understatement can sometimes be more compelling.
In TESTAMENT, Jane Alexander plays Carol Wetherly, the wife and mother of a 5-member family living in rural suburbia somewhere near Central California's Bay Area. Husband William Devane is off in San Francisco, never to return, the day the Soviet H-bomb falls upon it. Jane's character is left to manage alone the family's survival as their community, otherwise untouched directly by blast damage, copes with post-Holocaust disintegration. While some friends and neighbors leave the area for parts unknown, the Wetherlys remain.
TESTAMENT is not graphic in its depiction of nuclear war's devastation. What makes it absolutely compelling is the vision of a community, much like mine and possibly yours, and a particular family, everyday folks like you and me, facing the insidious effects of starvation and radiation sickness as they descend into the darkness necessarily to follow a nuclear exchange between superpowers. Ms. Alexander's performance is soul-wrenching and powerful, as when she cries out for God's damnation of those politicians that have reduced her world to an endless horror.
TESTAMENT is not a feel-good film, but certainly a great one. It's an exercise in bleak despair, and one which ultimately focuses on nothing more than the basic human instinct to survive - the final tribute to a species that has engineered the means for its own destruction.

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In TESTAMENT, an unexpected nuclear strike has occurred and no one knows who did it or why it happened.With her husband away on business, and now unable to be reached, Carol Weatherly must remain strong for the sake of her children.Things take a turn for the worse once food and other supplies become scarce. . The film is directed by Lynn Littman.

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The Rape of Nanking (Disc 1 Side A). Unit 731, Sex Slaves & Comfort Women, Japanese War Time Atrocities, Hiroshima, and more (Disc 2, Side A). Tiananmen Massacre (Disc 2 Side B). Review

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(More customer reviews)I saw this movie, with several friends, in a crowded theater in California. This movie will give you nightmares! It is the most shocking, horrifying movie ever made! Let me tell you about the audience that saw it with me. By the end of the film, almost everyone was in shock. Many were crying and in tears. A friend of mine who is a journalist, told me she began having nightmares after watching it. This movie is not for the faint hearted. All the pictures and film clips are archival, and most were taken by the Japanese. This is truly shocking stuff. It does not get more real than this. As to the background music, I have only this to say: Bravo!

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This edition contains two, 2-sided DVDs, 3 full length movies, and 8 short films. Disc 1: Side A: The Rape of NankingDisc 1: Side B: Hitler's DiariesDisc 2: Side A: Atrocities (8 short films)Disc 2 Side B: The Tiananmen MassacreRapeof Nanking begins with a historical overview of ancient China and the sun-cult of Shinto, Bushido, and Japanese Emporer Hirohito's dream to rule the world. There follows the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, the Rape of Nanking, and finally, the rape of Manilla, Unit 731 and the Baatan Death March.Japanese soldiers tear out the eyes of children, gang-rape women then set them on fire, bury people alive or use them for bayonet practice...beheading women, children, old men....and torturing people for fun...and then laughing hysterically as victims, who have been set on fire, run screaming through the night..."We had fun killing Chinese. We caught some innocent Chinese and either buried them alive, or pushed them into a fire, or beat them to death with clubs. When they were half dead we pushed them into ditches and burned them, torturing them to death. Everyone gets his entertainment this way. Its like killing dogs and cats." --Asahi Shimbun, Japanese soldier, describing Japanese atrocities during the Rape of Nanking."We took turns raping them. We always stabbed and killed them. When we were raping her, we looked at her as a woman. But when we killed her, we just thought of her as something like a pig." --Azuma Shiro, Japanese soldier.****The Tiananmen Massacre documents the rise and fall of the 1989 Student Democracy Movement when tens of millions of Chinese peacefully demonstrated for freedom, economic reform, and democracy. The film details how a few men controlling the government of China declared war against the Chinese people, and used tanks and machine guns to murder and maim thousands of innocent men and women whose only crime was a hunger for freedom and democracy. Includes rare footage of the fate of the "Tank Man" and answers the question about his fate: He was arrested, beaten, and never seen again.****"Atrocities" (Disc 2 Side B) includes 8 short films: The Ainu; Atrocities of the Japanese Army; Sex Slaves and comfort women; Japan and Asia's Stolen Treasures; Qing Dynasty Atrocities, Hiroshima and the Atomic Bomb; Hitler Nazi Atrocities; and what has been described as the most frightening, most horrifying film of all time, "Unit 731" which details Japanese war time medical experiments on human prisoners. ***The Rape of Nanking (Disc 1) was rated among the "Top 10 Most Discussed Films of All Time."

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The Pianist Review

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(More customer reviews)"The Pianist" is the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew and a brilliant pianist who lived in Warsaw during World War II. Beginning soon after the Blitzkrieg, the film follows Szpilman's experience as he witnesses all the oppression from the Germans, from restricting Jewish access to executing Jews in rows. Before long, Szpilman's family is brought together to be shipped off to Nazi labor camps, but he manages to elude deportation. From then on, Szpilman tries to survive among the devastated Warsaw ghetto.
It is difficult to decide where to begin praising a film as good as this. Having also lived in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II, director Roman Polanski has now created a marvelous film that unflinchingly shows the horrors of the Holocaust, yet has great moments of kindness and triumph as well. The film presents many disturbing images, and it is not for the faint of heart. However, Polanski always keeps Szpilman's survival to be the main focus throughout the film, with the cruelty of the Nazis as a secondary theme. Thus, "The Pianist" never shoves brutality in your face just for shock value. Instead, it comes off as both a thrilling tale of survival and a genuinely moving tribute to the human spirit.
The meticulous direction leaves even the shortest of individual scenes lingering in the viewer's mind. For example, one scene shows a woman being shot in the back while running down the street, and Polanski had told the actress EXACTLY how to slump down and keel into a lifeless position; he said this was the way he had once seen a woman die while he was a child in Warsaw. Other equally memorable moments include images of Szpilman drinking whatever water he can find, and one of the most harrowing scenes involves a man in a wheelchair being thrown from his apartment into the street.
The technical elements are superb as well; everything is done in such an incredibly realistic way that the audience virtually becomes a first-hand witness of everything Szpilman goes through. The cinematography, costume design, and sound effects editing make Warsaw come to life with all its sounds and sights. Particularly noteworthy: the desolate snow-covered buildings, the smoke rising into the clouds from burning corpses, and the momentary loss of sound as Szpilman is temporarily deafened by a tank blast.
But the performance by lead actor Adrien Brody is what really makes the entire film so thoroughly memorable and engrossing. Brody is rarely seen off-camera, so a lot depends on him being able to tell much of the story himself. His actions and eyes speak so much without him having to say anything; I will never forget the look on his face after he accidentally broke a set of dishes. The other actors (such as Ed Stoppard, Thomas Kretschmann, and Emilia Fox) don't get nearly as much screen time, but they too do well with what they've been given.
Finally, the denouement is unforgettable. No one will be breathing during the last half-hour of this film. It starts off remarkably tense, but the last 15 minutes progress with increasing poignancy. When the film came to its finish and the credits began to appear, no one in my local movie theater dared to move a muscle; everyone sat through all the credits and watched the film to its very end.
Recommendations don't get much higher than that.
Not easy to watch, but certainly rewarding, this independent film will leave its haunting spell in your mind for years to come. Truly amazing on all counts, "The Pianist" is one of the best films of 2002, and it will be a crying shame if it doesn't get at least a few Oscar nominations. See it now.

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Nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and winner of 3, The Pianist stars Oscar winner Adrien Brody in the true-life story of brilliant pianist and composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, the most acclaimed young musician of his time until his promising career was interrupted by the onset of World War II. This powerful, ultimately triumphant film follows Szpilman’s heroic and inspirational journey of survival with the unlikely help from a sympathetic German officer (Thomas Kretschmann). A truly unforgettable epic, testifying to both the power of hope and the resiliency of the human spirit, The Pianist is a miraculous tale of survival masterfully brought to life by visionary filmmaker Roman Polanski in his most personal movie ever.

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