Le cri du papillon

1st watched 12/23/2001 - 7 out of 10(Dir-Karel Kachyna): Compelling drama about a town of Jewish artists & performers kept from the Nazi concentration camps as long as they met their expectations. When a french mime artist, played well by Tom Courteney, arrives he starts creating pieces of art that disturb the Nazi party in power. The relationship between Courtenay and the children who become part of his plays is the core of the story and despite some slow moments this movie keeps you interested until the end.

This is another "holocaust story," and another good one on the grim subject. It isn't as well done as "Schlinder's List" but it doesn't have the overt horror scenes or the profanity of "Schindler's List" either. It makes the film more palatable, if you can call a grim subject like that "palatable." It just isn't as horrific in visuals, is all I am saying.

Nevertheless, this is still a powerful story and well-acted and photographed (color). Tom Courtenay stars and does an outstanding job. He even shows a lot of talent in the art of mime. This is good storytelling. The PG-13 rating is for nudity in here, usually the kind that gives it an R-rating.

This is the ONLY Holocaust film that is neither maudlin nor sensational but that delivers a punch with all the impact of a Hollywood blockbuster, but none of the glitz. Don't be put off by the fact that it's a foreign film (made before Czechoslovakia had been divided in two). It doesn't have that "dubbed" quality of a lot of foreign, English-language films. The acting, direction (and a wonderfully moving score that tracks the story line)and script are all synchronized in a stunning style. In fact, the European element helps to make it far more genuine than anything that's come out of Hollywood. One gets a sense that the filmakers and the actors were really plugged in to the history of what is, after all, a real story--that of the Nazi's "City of the Jews." This was a ruse of the Nazis to "prove" to the international community that they were taking care of "their" Jews by keeping them camped in segregated communities that had all the comforts of home. Of course, in reality, there was a back door track to the concentration camps that visitors were never shown.

But again, what makes this film so special is its avoidance of any pretense. The film makers don't milk the tragedy any more than it has to be. And the evil characters are not stereotyped into cardboard cut outs. And the heroes--well, there really are none, despite some heroic acts by normal folks.

Buy this film if you can. You'll want to pass it on to your kids.