The Boy in the Woods

It seems that various young Jews who survived the Nazis found their way to Canada, and Canadians end up telling their stories.

In this case, it was 1943, and the Jewish population of a small town in eastern Poland (now north-west Ukraine) was about to be "resettled". Urged by his mother, Max, a 12-year-old boy, manages to escape, meets pre-arranged Gentile family friends, who send him to live with a farm family as their nephew. However, as the reward for finding Jews go up, it becomes too dangerous, and the farmer sends him to the woods, living with in a small cave with little equipment, surviving on foraging, and catching the occasional rabbit.

Along the way, Max meets and befriends a younger boy, who has also been hiding in the woods, but whose parents have not returned from finding food.

This tale is well told. The Northern Ontario location stands in well as the Polish woods. The boys who hold up the film acquit themselves well. My beef is that, over many months, the boys still seem reasonably well groomed, and their clothes not all caked in mud.

Where do I start? There are so many criticisms of this movie that I'm only going to mention the most obvious. The most glaring is the 'shaky camera syndrome' which will induce an epileptic reaction in the more sensitive viewers, but appears to be popular among the less gifted directors these days. Second on the list is the horrendous acting. Hard to take anything they say or do seriously. Next is the wardrobe. It appears they went to the local second hand bin to retrieve the costumes. Perhaps it was due to the budget; which apparently was bare minimal. Lastly; these type of films seem to be churned out ad nauseam these days, and frankly, are getting so predictable and tiresome.

The true story of a young boy named Max (Jett Klyne), this is a thrilling real-life survival film of a Polish Jewish boy who escaped the Nazis by hiding in the woods. The escaped boy arrives in despair at a small farm. The farm is run by a small family: husband (Richard Armitage of The Hobbit and The man from Rome), wife and baby, who hide Max in plain sight as if he were a visiting relative. But nosy neighbors and regular visits from the Gestapo (Christopher Heyerdahl of Sicario: Day of the Soldado and The Calling) become too risky, so after teaching the boy some basic skills, the farmer orders him to live in the adjacent forest. There, he finally finds another orphaned and lost boy, Yanek (David Kohlsmith), and they try to survive together, developing a beautiful friendship between them, and meanwhile avoiding the Jew hunters who compete for rewards. Max fights to survive in the hopes of seeing his family again when the Russians finally liberate his homeland. Finding Yanek gives Max a new purpose, guiding the boy's survival and entertaining him with stories of a Golem who could save them from this nightmare.

A story of survival and resilience that also spoke of friendship and how, despite the harshness and isolation of life in the forest, a child can remain one and give free rein to his imagination. The stories of surviving a war, particularly the Holocaust, are almost always heartbreaking and exciting, since they require a significant effort to faithfully convey the sufferings of the Jews who are continually harassed, either in the concentration camps or in the dangerous escapes that they used to execute. Those who managed to get ahead did not remain unscathed, suffering many psychological traumas because they often suffered many family losses or personal torture. However, some managed to live to tell their story, which they share with the world to recognize those who disappeared, as well as those who helped them stay alive. Allies and sympathizers also took a great risk, resulting in a variety of reasons why they might have refused to be willing to help a Jew hiding from the Nazis. Based on the memoirs of Maxwell Smart, the story begins in 1945 in the town of Buczacz, then part of Poland; convinced that there is no hope for her and her little daughter, a mother tells her other son to escape from her and take refuge in the forest. The forests are full of dangers, from poisonous food to armed men tracking down hidden Jews. Luckily for the two children who find themselves in the forest, it turns out to be an isolated setting, but also a place where they can play and let their imagination fly.

There's decent cinematography, and despite taking place in war-torn Eastern Europe, the film was filmed in North Bay, Ontario. Made in short budget, in fact there are no big special effects , battles or war scenes, as it is a story that takes place far from the front, although the boys eventually find themselves hunted by greedy Polish bounty hunters to whom the Nazis have promised lavish rewards. But ultimately this is still a survival story and it unfolds from the beginning of the film to the end. It's also an English-language film, of Canadian nationality, despite taking place in occupied Poland, which should make it more accessible to a wider audience.

The film was well directed by Rebecca Snow. This is her first feature film, she had previously made documentaries or television films, such as: Pandora's Box, Holocaust Survivors, Real Vikings, The Equalizer, among others. Rebecca took on the "Boy in the Woods" project inspired by the true survival story of Maxwell Smart who she met while making the documentary Cheating Hitler. Rating: 6.5/10. A decent film on the well-worn theme of Jewish persecution, being acceptable enough, although not extraordinary either, there is nothing here that we have not seen before, but it rises above average thanks to the affectionate friendship that develops between the very young boys.

It's 1943. Max (Jett Klyne) is a Jewish boy from Buchach in modern day Ukraine. He escapes from a prison camp leaving behind his mother and sister. His aunt buys him sanctuary with a family, but eventually he is forced to hide in the woods.

This is a true story. I wouldn't ask the filmmaker to fictionalize anything that she doesn't want to. It does lose intensity over time as he spends time in the woods. The story feels like it's meandering from one event to the next. The early escape remains the most compelling scene in the movie. This is certainly an important story to tell. I'm not convinced that it's a good telling.

The story is very well written and wonderfully acted. Knowing that it is true makes it that much more heartbreaking and touching. I'm shocked at reviews who complain that « these stories are overdone ».

It is the true story of a young jewish boy who was able to avoid capture by the nazis by surviving in the woods for nearly a year. He was initially helped by a farmer and later on befriended another boy in the woods when staying at the farm became too risky. The pair rely on each other during hardship but make the most of it by maintaining their playfulness and youth.

Set in what was then known as Poland (now a part of Ukraine) in 1944.