Europa Europa

"Europa Europa" (original title "Hitler Youth Soloman") is the story of a Jewish boy who is separated from his family and ends up assuming different identities (including, yes, a Nazi) to stay alive. What makes this film different from all the Holocaust movies I've seen is that it shows the perspective of the other side. This is NOT done in a sympathetic way but in a way that simply shows what was going on amongst the brainwashed youth and how ordinary humans were coerced into doing the most inhuman things.

Our protagonist Soloman (Marco Hofschneider) is played with a wide-eyed innocence, almost like an objective observer, as he navigates the Nazi heirarchy inadvertently making friends wherever he goes. Thus the interesting spin is that the Nazis are shown with more personality than the stone-faced butchers we've come to expect from Holocaust flicks. In fact there is very little Jewish persecution and violence shown since most of the story is set behind the ranks where Soloman is fed the same propaganda and brotherhood that the Hitler youth were fed.

The brutality is clear, and as Soloman rises through the ranks he starts to peel away the truth that, no, Jews are not simply being "relocated to Madagascar". In addition he falls for a girl (Julie Delpy) who is a rabid anti-Semite. So the film ends up posing a very interesting point that's applicable to all our lives, regardless of the WW2 context: What do we do if it turns out that our friends & adoptive family turn out to be vile monsters?

I highly recommend this movie even if you're not interested in war flicks. It's more like a coming of age story but set in the most horrifying chapter of human history.

The print that I saw of this film was stunning. Come to think of it, every aspect of this film was well though out, excellently executed, and just as stunning. And just like any other film that deals with the plight of the Jewish people during WWII, this is not a feel good film that will have you wanting to watch it again and again. Very well made and well acted film.

I reckon 'Europa Europa' to be the best Holocaust feature film ever produced. I have been using this film for many years to teach the Holocaust to British 14-year-olds. They identify with the central character of Saloman Perel, a German-Jewish boy who survives the Holocaust by hiding his identity in ever more difficult circumstances. The film moves at a cracking pace and the music adds to the dramatic tension. A lot of difficult history is made accessible in a very entertaining and often comical way - Nazi and Communist indoctrination of the young, Jews and homosexuals as outsiders in the new Reich, the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the events of the Second World War. We have a great sense of the individual being swept along by the most destructive tide that history has yet unleashed.

The comic relief is a stark contrast to 'Schindler's List', a copy of which was donated by Spielberg to every British high school.The film is too long, slow and dark to appeal to the age group in question and I have not used it since coming across 'Europa Europa'.

Julie Delpy plays the female romantic lead as the delectable Leni, attractive but flawed, a perfect tribute to Nazi teaching methods. On the other hand there is a sympathetic portrayal of Germans who were not Nazis and who were just as much victims as the Jews. The film explores the human complexities which result when an ideology is allowed to mediate personal and social interaction. There is a lot going on in this film at many levels, but none of it detracts from the entertainment value.

Marco Hofschneider portrays Perel as a vulnerable but resourceful human being, a boy who desperately wishes to be normal in abnormal times. The adolescent quest for self-identity and self-assertion is not an easy option for a Jew on the run. This 'enforced self-denial' theme is successfully maintained throughout the film by its autobiographical format. The schizophrenic implications of being both German and Jewish during the Nazi period are well illustrated.

This film has held the attention of hundreds of 14 year-olds, without exception. Although not aimed specifically at this age-group, it strikes a particular chord with adolescents who can identify with the main character. It is a major contribution to making the Holocaust both accessible and entertaining. There should be no conflict of interest here. Just as the recent film 'Downfall' successfully 'humanises' Hitler by displaying the personal charm which he exercised over so many people, so 'Europa Europa' humanises the Holocaust by its concentration on the survival of one human being. This is its chief strength. I have never tired of watching this film.

'The Pianist' is also concerned with the survival of the individual but is a more 'static' and slightly less entertaining film. Its pace is much slower. 'Escape from Sobibor' is an excellent portrayal of how several hundred slave labourers escaped from this death camp and gives a vivid and unrelenting account of the camp system. It provides balance to the notion of Jews as passive victims. Not to be missed. The American TV series 'Holocaust' is good but long. It successfully turned the Holocaust into a soap opera lasting many hours. To my knowledge it and the 2002 film 'Amen.'contain the only re-enactments of how Zyklon-B crystals were tipped into the 'shower-room'. 'Holocaust' also shows gas chamber procedures.

OK, I saw "Europa, Europa" in the theater for the first time about 7 or 8 years ago. I always thought it was an amazing story about a young Jewish boy-man who survives WW2 masquerading as a Hitler-Jugend. I was moved to tears at the end of the story (but I won't give away how it ends). Anyway comparisons to Schindler's List and other movies are inevitable.

But I was so intrigued by Solomon Perel's story that I checked the book "Europa, Europa" out of the library and read it for myself. Now having read the book, I watched the movie again and I can tell you that many facts and details of Solly's life were changed to make the movie more dramatic and concise. "Europa, Europa" the movie was not in anyway described as a documentary, so you can take the dramatic moments with a grain of salt. They rewrote most of it in the process of making the movie. I don't know if these alterations were done with Perel's knowledge or permission. But he is shown at the end of the film, so he must have known that the movie was being made. All I can say is, the real truth is even more amazing than the fiction. Read the book for yourself and see what I mean!

An interesting and moving film about a teen : Marco Holfschneider attempting to conceal his Jew origin throughout WWII . The real Salomon Perel is a young Jewish who escaped the Holocaust by passing for a Communist at Russian orphanage , where he learns to be a fervert young Stalinist and subsequently a German person at an elite , Nazi-run Academy. Eventually he falls for lovely Jew-hating Julie Delpy but by this point the effort of hiding behind so many masks is starting to take its toll , as occurring disturbing edge to Perel's fortunes . In the tradition of Voltaire's Candide and Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird .

An incredible and brooding true story of Salomon Perel . A sad and provoking flick in which we watch actual events of the 30s and 40s , such as : the Kristalnacht , Jewish Ghettos , distribution of Poland between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia after covenant between Rosenberg and Molotov , 1939 Poland invasion , 1941 Russia encroachment in Redbeard Operation , camps of death , the murderous SonderKommandos executing the deadly assignments and 1945 Berlín war . A thrilling and twisted movie in which our starring suffers several misfortunes and borderline-absurdist happenings. The tale is at times so absurd that it could have made a grotesque historical burlesque of the Gunter Grass' Tin Drum variety . Such a sharp evocation of the era would have deserved an Oscar , but it wouldn't submit for the Academy Awards . Stars Marco Holfschneider who gives a sympathetic acting as the young suffering lots of distresses , unfortunes and pains , along the way he gets away from Nazi Holocaust by passing for a fervent Nazi at an elitist Academy . And a mostly unknown cast with exception for Hanns Zischler as a German captain and Julie Delpy as a fanatic Nazi girl , all of them give nice interpretations .

It was shot in various languages, in German and Russian with English subtitles . It contains a sensitive and enjoyable musical score by Zbigniew Preisner, including catching leitmotif . As well as atmospheric cinematography , though a perfect remastering being extremely necessary .This thought-provoking and brooding motion picture was compellingly directed by Agnieszka Holland . This prestigious director has made good films , outstanding the following ones : "Copying Beethoven , Julie walking Home , Washington Square, Total Eclipse , The Secret Garden , Olivier Olivier , To Kill a Priest , A Woman on her Own and Sunday Children" . Rating 7/10 . Better than average . Essential and indispensable seeing for WWII aficionados .