Triumph of the Spirit (1989)

Director:

Robert M. Young

Writers (WGA):

Shimon Arama (story) &
Zion Haen (story) ...

Release Date:

6 April 1990 (Sweden)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Sport

Plot:

Fact based story about a former Greek Olympic boxer (Dafoe) who was taken as a prisoner during World war II and placed in the Auschwitz prison camp...

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Auschwitz | Boxer | Greek | Historical

Cast

Willem Dafoe	...	Salamo Arouch
Edward James Olmos	...	Gypsy
Robert Loggia	...	Father Arouch
Wendy Gazelle	...	Allegra
Kelly Wolf	...	Elena
Costas Mandylor	...	Avram Arouch
Kario Salem	...	Jacko
Edward Zentara	...	Janush
Hartmut Becker	...	Maj. Rauscher
Burkhard Heyl	...	Aide to Rauscher
Zofia Saretok	...	Momma
Grazyna Krukówna	...	Sister Julie
Karolina Twardowska	...	Bemmi
Juranda Krol	...	Sarah
Wiktor Mlynarczyk	...	Beppo

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Oswiecim, Poland

Company:

Nova International Films

Trivia:

Shot on location at the actual Auschwitz death camp. This was first film production that was permitted to shoot at the actual camp. Some of the existing structures were utilized in the production, however, the camp's crematorium had to be recreated since the actual crematorium condition had greatly deteriorated over the years.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the movie, Salamo Arouch was depicted as having married "Allegra" shortly before being sent to Auschwitz. In reality, Arouch met her for the first time after they had both been liberated from Auschwitz in 1945 and were subsequently married. Furthermore, "Allegra" was a name used by the writers for artistic reasons, his wife's real name was Marta Yechiel.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'Triumph of the Spirit' (1990)

Confronting the hard choices

Triumph of the Spirit is a film about people who have made choices in one of the most horrific situations--the Auschwitz death camp. Think of all the choices made by Salamo Arousch and those nearest to him. His sister Julie chooses to stay with her little girl rather than give the child over to her mother and thus get picked for the labour camp (somewhat curious that the SS officer doing the selection gave Julie the option of living). Avram refuses to join the Sonderkommando and is killed by the Nazis. Salamo chooses to box to keep his father alive a little while longer. Allegra chooses to believe her sister Helena who has chosen to make up a story about pregnancy. Jocko Levy has chosen to become a Kapo only to be tossed out by the Nazis when he is no longer healthy.

It was the magnitude of the choices that stunned me when I saw the film when it came out. The film presents us with an unrelenting series of situations and choices to be made. How would any of us have behaved if we had been in the same situation?

Triumph of the Spirit made me squirm because it showed me just how complex the Holocaust experience was for individuals who had to make life and death decisions. This is what lifts Triumph of the Spirit way above most other Holocaust films.