The Survivor

Good movie I would recommend. But directors left out quite some stuff about his life. Could have filled the second part with it. Learning about real-life Harry Haft gives him more complexity as a person. The following is one of the things that's left out:

'The elderly couple harbored Harry Haft in their small farmhouse, believing he was an injured German soldier who had been separated from his unit. Haft killed the couple the following morning after the husband began to badger him with questions about his eyepatch and whether he was German. Haft feared that they would turn him in to German authorities. He collected food from their kitchen and ran off and hid in the Bohemian Forest for weeks.

Eventually, he ran out of food and searched for another farm. He again had the same plan of telling the owners that he was an injured German soldier who had been separated from his unit. When a middle-aged woman answered the door, she could immediately see that he was an imposter and called him out for it. "You're not a soldier. You're not even German," she told him. Stricken with fear that she would turn him in, he went into a blind rage and pulled out his revolver and shot the woman. He headed to the kitchen to steal food when he heard a noise. He found a boy of about 12 years of age, presumably the woman's son, hiding in a bedroom closet. Haft told the boy to stay in the closet and then he quickly fled the house.'

They DO still make good movies. This is one, & i can understand many folk rating it a 10 Films based on truth are always good very well acted and good to see danny divito in a serious role.

With an intriguing true story and a notable team behind the camera, it was disappointing at the average execution throughout. Starting off, Ben Foster as the title character is brilliant in his portrayal. He brought a brutally raw and emotional depiction of a survivor of Auschwitz as well as the side effects of what those events could do to a person. The scenes that took place in the past were horrifying in their depiction. The cinematography and camera work allowed the feelings of each character to be present throughout. It was also enlightening to aspects of the Holocaust that haven't been fully explored in a film. However, where the film brilliantly succeeds in some areas, it sadly fails in others. The film feels as though it was split into two parts, having an intriguing first half, while the duration of the movie after feels unneeded. It made what could have been a great film, drawn out longer than it needs to be, making it at times boring to watch. There are also technical elements of the film that could have easily been fixed to make the film have more of an artistic edge. While there are minor spurts within the narrative, the majority of the film has a bland feel to it. Overall, where the film has plenty of brilliant aspects, it ultimately falters in an overly long runtime and bland execution, making for an experience that sadly has more ambition than it can offer.

The Survivor provides a fresh perspective on a known atrocity. Narratives surrounding the Holocaust are often meaningful, but this adds tragic layers of survivor's guilt and complicated love. Ben Foster (who is underappreciated) gives a conflicted and vulnerable performance while also sacrificing his body for the role. The third act awkwardly shifts away from boxing and the dialogue is straightforward, but the plot remains extremely humanizing. By maintaining a small scale and examining the protagonist's complexity, The Survivor makes unbelievable horrors relatable and recontextualizes a desensitized story. For that, the film stands out and succeeds.

Technically, The Survivor is mixed. The production switches eras and settings. The effects enhance aging and violence. Plus, there are emotional songs sung by characters, and moments of cinematic focus, angles, composition, and motion. Still, it's the sound (using abstract stings, J-cuts, and silence) and the editing (using smash cuts, match cuts, and wipes) that are the highlights here. Conversely, the lighting makes mistakes, the pacing is clunky, and the production is overly clean. Overall, The Survivor possesses strengths but never transcends its parts. It has important source material and a powerful lead, yet The Survivor's safe filmmaking limits its ceiling.

Writing: 9/10 Direction: 6/10 Cinematography: 7/10 Acting: 9/10 Editing: 7/10 Sound: 8/10 Score/Soundtrack: 7/10 Production Design: 8/10 Casting: 7/10 Effects: 7/10

Overall Score: 7.5/10.

The survivor doesn't have the sparkling spectacles of liberation but it got a clear revelation of survivor's day-to-day trauma. What's remarkable about this story is how it translates to modern lives dwelling in the cutthroat society, the guilt, helplessness and questionable consciences when thrown together produces a truly dramatic visualization of a life lived in two extremes in two different eras. Hertzka's painful struggle to start his life from where it was uprooted and Schneider's sociopathic obsession to live on his desires is a clear provocative constrasts. The remarkable performances, flawless story and clever visual set-up put this movie higher up in ranks.