Reviews (40)

A World Turned Upside Down and Inside Out: Could You Survive
This is one of the best films in the genre--historial film from autobiography. Marco Hofschneider brings to brilliant life the story of Salamon Perel, a German Jew. From the days of Kristallnacht--the Night of Broken Glass, when Jewish businesses were trashed and vandalized throughout Germany, to his final reunification with his brother--to poignant to say more about this here...this is a cinematic masterpiece.

I've seen few films that capture the turmoil of adolescent identity and identification so well. True, the Nazi era is the backdrop, but the themes couldn't be more universal. In that respect, it is also more relevant today, in 2004, than during the 1980s, when it was filmed--especially in America, where the American identity has been deconstructed so as to be hardly palpable. Also, it is equally relevant in Europe, where national distinctions could meld into a Confederacy if not a Union of some power.

Politics aside, this is an intensely personal film, one where the unquestioned identity of youth (German) falls victim to oncoming War and cruel happenstance. Perel must continually revise his vision OF himself and FOR himself, and at one point wishes for nothing more than to be an Nazi, for a beautiful young German girl becomes enfatuated with him. How did he end up in this position, wearing the uniform of the Hitler Youth at an Elite boarding school in Berlin? Or lose his virginity to a high-ranking female Party member while he is escorted by train from the Eastern Front to Berlin, as a Folk Hero (Volksdeutscher Held). Perhaps you think it unimaginable. I do not.

I've seen places in German where the remnants of Jewish culture and tradition are clear as day--such as a former High School for Jews in Berlin--with Hebrew and German inscribed clearly in the stones.

No, though Germany seems to some a heartless pillar of unemotionality, efficiency, heartlessness, the German characters in Europa, Europa are as human as those found anywhere. They fall victim to their personal aspirations, desire to please, deceitfulness, betrayal...simply put, human.

Although current fashion is to think of the period as one of the "banality of evil" (attributed to Hannah Arendt, Holocaust scholar), this film exposes the period as one more of human triumph and tragedy, and that, while we grow into adulthood, our personal identity is as much at the mercy of the passage of time and events as a unique, solitary construction.

See this film! It will draw you into the themes of Life, Love, and Redemption, and be over leaving you desperate for more.

Your friend, your enemy, you....
I caught this movie originally on cable a few minutes into the film and was instantly intrigued and completely confused. A Jewish kid in the German Army? And the Hitler Youth? And in love with a German girl who says nice things like 'If there were a Jew here right now, I'd cut his throat!' right before she asks him to father her child. What the hell was going on here?

What was going on was 'Europa, Europa', an outstanding and often funny (true) story of a teen of German-Jewish extraction named Jupp who in 1939 was in the Communist Youth League in one of the Soviet-occupied Baltic territories, and ended up being captured by the Germans when they invaded the USSR in 1941. Naturally he concealed his Jewish identity and, believing him to be Volksdeutsch (a non-German of German blood, and therefore automatically a German citizen under Hitler's laws) the Wehrmacht drafted him as a soldier-translator. This begins Jupp's double life....a few months ago he was a Communist and a Jew, and now he's a German and a Nazi....just imagine this kid's confusion. The soldiers of his unit adopt him as a sort of mascot, and even when one of the soldiers discovers his secret, he does not betray him. The mutual affection between Jupp and the soldiers becomes real over time, and leads to Jupp's first crisis of identity: how can he be friends and comrades with men who believe Jews are evil, sub-human scum? Things get even more complicated when the violently anti-Semetic commander of the unit offers to adopt Jupp and send him back to Germany to join a Hitler Youth hostel. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

Jupp finds the Hitler Youth both a dream and a nightmare. On the one hand, much of the Nazi propaganda turns out to be true -- the boys are tough, fun-loving, comradely, and loyal. They enjoy their singing, marching, and sports, and they are truly inspired by the destruction of snobbery and class privelege which was a central objective of National Socialism (Nazism). On the other hand, they sing charming songs like "sharpen your knives on the paving stone, the Jewish blood will run" and spend time in class learning to 'spot' Jews and other sub-humans through racial characteristics (Jupp is selected as a good example of Baltic Aryan blood). These kids remind you of darling young tiger cubs that will grow up into man-eaters: they are both charming and frightening.

Much of the movie is a black-comic attempt by Jupp to fit in as a loyal German youth while hiding his Jewish identity from his friends, which is tough on account of being circumcised in a society where circumcision was performed only among Jews (there are some lengths Jupp goes to to disguise this fact that will make any man watching EXTREMELY uncomfortable....I kept thinking "God, that poor kid!"). As you can imagine, when he falls for a lovely Arayan maiden, disguising this fact becomes even harder.

As the war roars towards its conclusion, Jupp is torn by the loyalty and sense of belonging he feels in the HJ/Nazi Germany and his true identity. After the defeat at Stalingrad, the mourning boys gather and sing poignantly together as brothers, and Jupp mourns with them. The fact that he is clearly not faking shows the turmoil and conflict in his young heart. Is he Jupp, the Jew, or Jupp, the Nazi?

"Europa, Europa" is different from 'Holocaust' type movies in that it injects a lot of humor into otherwise horrible situations without cheapening what happened. This is an undeniably tragic and moving film; it is also pretty damn funny. But it will also make you mad, and the really infuriating thing for the viewer is the colossal waste of it all -- the movie shows how the egalitarian ideals of National Socialism inspired, moved, and united young people, but was perverted by race hatred, anti-Semetism, and bloodlust, and ulyimately had to be destroyed at a terrible cost to everybody involved. What a stupid, criminal waste of millions of able young men, who were taught to hate people really no different than themselves. What a pity the Germans chose to forget the many Jews who served ably and courageously for their country in World War I, and bought into Hitler's insane hatred of them, a hatred which was not only stupid but hypocritical. After all, the man who in 1917 or so recommended a young Corporal Hitler for his Iron Cross First Class was a lieutnant named Hugo Gutmann....but somehow I'm willing to bet that fact never came up in any Hitler Youth class. Too bad for Jupp, and too bad for Europa.

Mesmerizing story based on true events¿
Europa Europa is set in the year before and during the World War II in Europe. The story is based on the true events of the young boy, Salomon "Solly" Perel (Marco Hofschneider), son of a shopkeeper in Poland who experienced brutality through the eye of the enemy as he had to disguise himself in order to survive as his heritage was Jewish. Initially Solly escapes the German's wearing a Nazi leather coat with the Swastika on the arm, which becomes his first disguise or act in order to survive. This continues throughout the film where Solly must hide his true identity, which deals with his circumcision, culture, and background. The constant acting by Solly leads him to begin to feel unsure about his true identity as he tries to assimilate into Nazi-German culture and reject himself. At one point Solly's feelings towards his Jewish background are close to hatred as he also struggles with the natural dilemmas of a teenager such as identity and love. Europa Europa is a dark coming of age film depicting the terrible destiny of Solly as he grows up as a pro-Nazi in order to survive and have self-discovery while hiding himself from himself. When the audience stretches their legs during the end credits there will be much room for pondering and contemplation as Europa Europa leaves the viewers with an excellent cinematic experience.

Warning - Not Much Of This Movie Is True
Mr. Perel's story - that is to say, his autobiography - is interesting and compelling. Regretably, this movie has taken literary license to an unfortunate extreme. "Leni," his girlfriend of sorts at the Hitler Youth School, was never pregnant in real life. At the end of the war, he was actually captured by the Americans in his sleep rather than the dramatic capture by the Russians depicted in the movie. He never captured a Russian position as depicted in the movie or otherwise. And, the homosexual German soldier depicted in the movie didn't merely make a casual pass at Perel - he actually tried to rape Perel on a number of occassions, once by trying to knock him out with chloroform (And yet in the end he did keep Perel's secret and they did become friends, as depicted in the movie). Not only was the movie full of drama that never happened, it also cut out significant events which did occur in real life - for example, Perel confronted his classmates and teachers at the end of the war. A very good movie, yes, but it irks me a great deal that so many "facts" were concocted out of thin air, at the expense of many true compelling events. I therefore do not recommend this movie, and instead recommmend Perel's book, and also the book "Hiding in Plain Sight" by Betty Lauer, which was published in March 2004.

I love this movie !!!
This movie is excellent! I can't believe more of my friends don't know this movie. It is truly an underrated movie by mainstream people, especially since it's a true story about a holocaust survivor. Even the music score is awesome. The music was written by Zbigniew Preisner, who has the most intense and sad music ever written for a holocaust movie. It's a crime that this movie is underrated by the mainstream. At least it won many film awards by independent film makers back in the early 1990s. There is justice afterall!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

This wonderful film by Polish director Agnieszka Holland (Total Eclipse), based on an autobiography by Solomon Perel, concerns a Jewish-German boy who manages to conceal his identity from the Nazis and ends up a member of their Youth Party. An admirably full experience, the film is both black comedy and horror show, with the central character taking the full measure of everyone's perspective on the war and Nazi crimes. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (40)

A World Turned Upside Down and Inside Out: Could You Survive
This is one of the best films in the genre--historial film from autobiography. Marco Hofschneider brings to brilliant life the story of Salamon Perel, a German Jew. From the days of Kristallnacht--the Night of Broken Glass, when Jewish businesses were trashed and vandalized throughout Germany, to his final reunification with his brother--to poignant to say more about this here...this is a cinematic masterpiece.

I've seen few films that capture the turmoil of adolescent identity and identification so well. True, the Nazi era is the backdrop, but the themes couldn't be more universal. In that respect, it is also more relevant today, in 2004, than during the 1980s, when it was filmed--especially in America, where the American identity has been deconstructed so as to be hardly palpable. Also, it is equally relevant in Europe, where national distinctions could meld into a Confederacy if not a Union of some power.

Politics aside, this is an intensely personal film, one where the unquestioned identity of youth (German) falls victim to oncoming War and cruel happenstance. Perel must continually revise his vision OF himself and FOR himself, and at one point wishes for nothing more than to be an Nazi, for a beautiful young German girl becomes enfatuated with him. How did he end up in this position, wearing the uniform of the Hitler Youth at an Elite boarding school in Berlin? Or lose his virginity to a high-ranking female Party member while he is escorted by train from the Eastern Front to Berlin, as a Folk Hero (Volksdeutscher Held). Perhaps you think it unimaginable. I do not.

I've seen places in German where the remnants of Jewish culture and tradition are clear as day--such as a former High School for Jews in Berlin--with Hebrew and German inscribed clearly in the stones.

No, though Germany seems to some a heartless pillar of unemotionality, efficiency, heartlessness, the German characters in Europa, Europa are as human as those found anywhere. They fall victim to their personal aspirations, desire to please, deceitfulness, betrayal...simply put, human.

Although current fashion is to think of the period as one of the "banality of evil" (attributed to Hannah Arendt, Holocaust scholar), this film exposes the period as one more of human triumph and tragedy, and that, while we grow into adulthood, our personal identity is as much at the mercy of the passage of time and events as a unique, solitary construction.

See this film! It will draw you into the themes of Life, Love, and Redemption, and be over leaving you desperate for more.

Your friend, your enemy, you....
I caught this movie originally on cable a few minutes into the film and was instantly intrigued and completely confused. A Jewish kid in the German Army? And the Hitler Youth? And in love with a German girl who says nice things like 'If there were a Jew here right now, I'd cut his throat!' right before she asks him to father her child. What the hell was going on here?

What was going on was 'Europa, Europa', an outstanding and often funny (true) story of a teen of German-Jewish extraction named Jupp who in 1939 was in the Communist Youth League in one of the Soviet-occupied Baltic territories, and ended up being captured by the Germans when they invaded the USSR in 1941. Naturally he concealed his Jewish identity and, believing him to be Volksdeutsch (a non-German of German blood, and therefore automatically a German citizen under Hitler's laws) the Wehrmacht drafted him as a soldier-translator. This begins Jupp's double life....a few months ago he was a Communist and a Jew, and now he's a German and a Nazi....just imagine this kid's confusion. The soldiers of his unit adopt him as a sort of mascot, and even when one of the soldiers discovers his secret, he does not betray him. The mutual affection between Jupp and the soldiers becomes real over time, and leads to Jupp's first crisis of identity: how can he be friends and comrades with men who believe Jews are evil, sub-human scum? Things get even more complicated when the violently anti-Semetic commander of the unit offers to adopt Jupp and send him back to Germany to join a Hitler Youth hostel. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

Jupp finds the Hitler Youth both a dream and a nightmare. On the one hand, much of the Nazi propaganda turns out to be true -- the boys are tough, fun-loving, comradely, and loyal. They enjoy their singing, marching, and sports, and they are truly inspired by the destruction of snobbery and class privelege which was a central objective of National Socialism (Nazism). On the other hand, they sing charming songs like "sharpen your knives on the paving stone, the Jewish blood will run" and spend time in class learning to 'spot' Jews and other sub-humans through racial characteristics (Jupp is selected as a good example of Baltic Aryan blood). These kids remind you of darling young tiger cubs that will grow up into man-eaters: they are both charming and frightening.

Much of the movie is a black-comic attempt by Jupp to fit in as a loyal German youth while hiding his Jewish identity from his friends, which is tough on account of being circumcised in a society where circumcision was performed only among Jews (there are some lengths Jupp goes to to disguise this fact that will make any man watching EXTREMELY uncomfortable....I kept thinking "God, that poor kid!"). As you can imagine, when he falls for a lovely Arayan maiden, disguising this fact becomes even harder.

As the war roars towards its conclusion, Jupp is torn by the loyalty and sense of belonging he feels in the HJ/Nazi Germany and his true identity. After the defeat at Stalingrad, the mourning boys gather and sing poignantly together as brothers, and Jupp mourns with them. The fact that he is clearly not faking shows the turmoil and conflict in his young heart. Is he Jupp, the Jew, or Jupp, the Nazi?

"Europa, Europa" is different from 'Holocaust' type movies in that it injects a lot of humor into otherwise horrible situations without cheapening what happened. This is an undeniably tragic and moving film; it is also pretty damn funny. But it will also make you mad, and the really infuriating thing for the viewer is the colossal waste of it all -- the movie shows how the egalitarian ideals of National Socialism inspired, moved, and united young people, but was perverted by race hatred, anti-Semetism, and bloodlust, and ulyimately had to be destroyed at a terrible cost to everybody involved. What a stupid, criminal waste of millions of able young men, who were taught to hate people really no different than themselves. What a pity the Germans chose to forget the many Jews who served ably and courageously for their country in World War I, and bought into Hitler's insane hatred of them, a hatred which was not only stupid but hypocritical. After all, the man who in 1917 or so recommended a young Corporal Hitler for his Iron Cross First Class was a lieutnant named Hugo Gutmann....but somehow I'm willing to bet that fact never came up in any Hitler Youth class. Too bad for Jupp, and too bad for Europa.

Mesmerizing story based on true events¿
Europa Europa is set in the year before and during the World War II in Europe. The story is based on the true events of the young boy, Salomon "Solly" Perel (Marco Hofschneider), son of a shopkeeper in Poland who experienced brutality through the eye of the enemy as he had to disguise himself in order to survive as his heritage was Jewish. Initially Solly escapes the German's wearing a Nazi leather coat with the Swastika on the arm, which becomes his first disguise or act in order to survive. This continues throughout the film where Solly must hide his true identity, which deals with his circumcision, culture, and background. The constant acting by Solly leads him to begin to feel unsure about his true identity as he tries to assimilate into Nazi-German culture and reject himself. At one point Solly's feelings towards his Jewish background are close to hatred as he also struggles with the natural dilemmas of a teenager such as identity and love. Europa Europa is a dark coming of age film depicting the terrible destiny of Solly as he grows up as a pro-Nazi in order to survive and have self-discovery while hiding himself from himself. When the audience stretches their legs during the end credits there will be much room for pondering and contemplation as Europa Europa leaves the viewers with an excellent cinematic experience.

Warning - Not Much Of This Movie Is True
Mr. Perel's story - that is to say, his autobiography - is interesting and compelling. Regretably, this movie has taken literary license to an unfortunate extreme. "Leni," his girlfriend of sorts at the Hitler Youth School, was never pregnant in real life. At the end of the war, he was actually captured by the Americans in his sleep rather than the dramatic capture by the Russians depicted in the movie. He never captured a Russian position as depicted in the movie or otherwise. And, the homosexual German soldier depicted in the movie didn't merely make a casual pass at Perel - he actually tried to rape Perel on a number of occassions, once by trying to knock him out with chloroform (And yet in the end he did keep Perel's secret and they did become friends, as depicted in the movie). Not only was the movie full of drama that never happened, it also cut out significant events which did occur in real life - for example, Perel confronted his classmates and teachers at the end of the war. A very good movie, yes, but it irks me a great deal that so many "facts" were concocted out of thin air, at the expense of many true compelling events. I therefore do not recommend this movie, and instead recommmend Perel's book, and also the book "Hiding in Plain Sight" by Betty Lauer, which was published in March 2004.

I love this movie !!!
This movie is excellent! I can't believe more of my friends don't know this movie. It is truly an underrated movie by mainstream people, especially since it's a true story about a holocaust survivor. Even the music score is awesome. The music was written by Zbigniew Preisner, who has the most intense and sad music ever written for a holocaust movie. It's a crime that this movie is underrated by the mainstream. At least it won many film awards by independent film makers back in the early 1990s. There is justice afterall!!! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Maya Komorowska superb in A Year of the Quiet Sun
A Year of the Quiet Sun is a love story told in the bombed out remains of Poland just after World War II. Scott Wilson is Norman, a private in the American Army who remains behind to take part in the investigation of war crimes. He meets Emilia, a woman he notices painting a picture in a burnt out car. He takes an interest in her and soon falls deeply in love with her and wants to marry her. Emilia is played by Maya Komorowska, who is easily the best thing about this film.

If Komorowska is so good, and she is, why haven't we seen her more frequently? The answer to this question comes in a special feature on the DVD. In the mid 1980's when this film was being made, Poland was still under Soviet oppression. Komorowska was a supporter of Solidarity, according to Scott Wilson, who tells us about the problems he faced working on this film with director Krsysztof Zanussi. Few freedoms were available to the Polish people and the oppression they experienced delayed their recovery from the disaster of the Second World War. Komorowska should have been a major star. Fortunately we have A Year of the Quiet Sun to appreciate her great talent.

As good as the acting is in this film by all involved, the story moves at a snail's pace. We are meant to feel the pain of Norman and Emilia as they attempt to find some happiness in a bombed out world of fear and poverty. Emilia speaks only a little English and Norman speaks no Polish. It takes time for them to figure out what each wants, which they do through nonverbal communication and occasional help from a translator.

Also, Zanussi wants us to see and feel the desperation of the people living in Poland just after the war. He shows us more than he tells us and he takes his time as, for example, we watch Polish bodies being excavated from a mass grave. Emilia's husband may be among the dead, although we are not certain of this.

What we are left with after two hours or so of watching this film is the experience of seeing the profound difference one good person can make in the lives of others. Emilia refuses to allow herself and her life to be reduced to hatred and bitterness. She buries the past and attempts to live nonjudgmentally in the present. She seeks happiness, but not at the expense of her duty to her sick mother and to her friends, most notably a prostitute who is her neighbor. Maya Komorowska brings Emilia to life so convincingly that we will not soon forget her or her story.

"Why Don't We Hear About These Movies?"
This was my husband's question halfway through this powerful film. In 1946, an American officer (Scott Wilson, "In Cold Blood") comes to a devastated, formerly German part of Poland to investigate war crimes. He befriends a displaced war widow (the superb Maja Komorowska) and her mother, despite their meager shared vocabulary. Friendship blossoms into love. But don't expect a lot of pretty scenes. This film is somber, with a complete absence of special effects. Light and color are doled out like postwar jam and coffee. The closest it comes to laughs is the occasional guffaw of frustration at the variously hapless and feckless translators recruited to the lovers' cause. Oh, and viewers of Polish background get a ticket for one chuckle of recognition at the portrait of the self-sacrificing mother. Also, there is no glamour-amid-the-ruins, absolutely none. No, all elements of light entertainment are stripped away here. The film's entire brilliance comes from Zanussi's script and direction, self-effacing yet dumbfounding art and camera work, the basis in history, and virtuoso ensemble acting. The real sufferings endured by millions are the canvas on which this film is painted. Somber, yes, but the story might really have happened; in fact, I have no doubt that some version of it really did happen, perhaps many times. Zanussi's real subject is the bright flame of decency, strength and heroism on which civilized behavior depends. I was a little worried about inflicting this movie on my husband after a hard day's work...would he doze off? But I'd forgotten one thing since I first saw "A Year of the Quiet Sun" years ago as a first-run movie in New York: the superb acting and the fragile communication between the main characters produce a sustained dramatic tension which will keep you on the edge of your seat. Believe me, we both stayed wide-eyed. Had enough of Hollywood? Here's your movie. ... Read more