Playing for Time (1980) (TV)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

Daniel Mann

Writers:

Fania Fénelon (autobiography The Musicians of Auschwitz)
Arthur Miller (writer)

Release Date:

30 September 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Female prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp (Auschwitz) are spared from death in return for performing music for their captors. |

Plot Keywords:

Prisoner | Concentration Camp | Nazi | Auschwitz | Foreign Language Adaptation

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Vanessa Redgrave	...	Fania Fenelon
Jane Alexander	...	Alma Rose
Maud Adams	...	Mala
Christine Baranski	...	Olga
Robin Bartlett	...	Etalina
Marisa Berenson	...	Elzvieta
Verna Bloom	...	Paulette
Donna Haley	...	Katrina
Lenore Harris	...	Charlotte
Mady Kaplan	...	Varya
Will Lee	...	Shmuel
Anna Levine	...	Michou
Viveca Lindfors	...	Frau Schmidt
Melanie Mayron	...	Marianne
Marcell Rosenblatt	...	Giselle

Runtime:

150 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Fort Indiantown Gap, Annville, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Szygzy Productions

Trivia:

Barbra Streisand was originally offered the role of Fania Fenelon. Streisand resembles the real Fenelon much more than Vanessa Redgrave, who ultimately took the part.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Paradise Road (1997)

superb performance by Vanessa Redgrave

Playing for Time deserved theatrical release, but as TV fare, perhaps among the finest, ranking up there with The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Being a Jew, I received a lot of flak for applauding Vanessa Redgrave's magnificent performance, but one needs to separate the art from the politics. While physically Ms. Redgrave does not at all resemble the real Fanelon, one can't help feeling that she captured the role. My only criticism is the newswreel type footage used to depict the moving trains. First rate movie