Erb502

Europa Europa is a filmed account of Solomon Perel's autobiographical experiences during the World War II. From Communist orphanage to Hitler youth group, Solly blends right in with each circumstance that he finds himself in. One of the questions on the sheets was something about Solly having nine lives, and it seems that he does for some part. First he's in the bathroom when his sister is killed, and if he had stood up when she called for him he could have been killed himself. Then he's saved by a Russian solider, speaks good German to the right officer, and they take him in without question. Again he's in the tub and one of the soldiers sees him, and finds out that he's a Jew. It's a powerful scene because the solider could have turned him in and had him killed. Instead the gentleman befriends Solly and treats him like a brother. He manages to hold his head together long enough to keep himself alive until the war ends, or his freedom, if he can find a way. Solomon Perel was luckier than most, he escaped to Palestine, and now lives in Israel.

The film moves along very well, and is not predictable at all, which is very similar; I'm sure to what the young Solomon had to go through. It doesn't have boring moments, and even includes some flights of fancy by the young man, who has a bit if a sense of humor, even if subtle.

"Europa Europa" is a somewhat long movie, but never loses its impact. It is quite intriguing how Solomon continuously masquerades as different types of people. There are several sequences where Solomon imagines various images, such as Hitler dancing with Stalin among others. "Europa Europa" is a wonderful movie, but not for everyone. The subtitles are sometimes hard to follow; so most viewers won't be likely to follow the film easily. However, anyone who enjoys foreign films or doesn't mind the subtitles, length or depth of subject will likely enjoy this film.

Jacob the Liar

I liked this movie, and I think it had good lessons to learn from. I liked Lena's character. She was completely innocent throughout the entire movie, and I felt that she showed not everyone had lost hope during the time. Even at the end, she was excited that they were going away, and she had no clue where. She was just being a kid, and going anywhere is exciting when you are young. Jacob starting telling stories about the Russians and other things he knew about the war. The reality was that he knew nothing more than anyone else. In a way, it did help the people's spirits though. But in the end, everyone was unhappy because their optimism was crushed with the sign that said everyone was to gather together with less than 5 kilos in luggage so they could `go away'.

I think my favorite scene was when the old man thought he heard voices in the freight car. While I was watching the movie, I thought he was crazy and apparently so did everyone else. They all thought he was just hearing things that weren't there. The reality was that there was someone in the car, but they never showed who and a guard shot the old man before he could tell anyone. The scene sparked my curiosity on who it was exactly in the car and why that person was being held in there, or if they were being held in the at all.

The whole radio lie caused a lot of problems in the movie, and that's why I said above that there were some good lessons to be learned in the movie. One lie sparked another for him, and that got him in deeper into his stories until so many people were asking about the radio that he just couldn't make anything else up and he finally told his friend. Surprisingly enough, the friend took the news very well. In a way, it almost seemed like he was expecting it all along. The movie shows that lying for whatever cause is never a good cause no matter how much you think it may help the situation. The lies turned everyone against him in the end, and they all ended up the same way anyhow unfortunately. Although this wasn't my favorite movie in class so far, I did enjoy watching it, and it kept my attention throughout the story.