Mutters Courage (1995)

Director:

Michael Verhoeven

Writers:

George Tabori (story)
Michael Verhoeven (writer)

Release Date:

29 February 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The deportation of 4000 Jews from Budapest to Auschwitz in July 1944, as told by George Tabori, and how the narrator's mother escaped it...

Plot Keywords:

Mother | Deportation | Courage | WWII | Film In Film

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

George Tabori	...	Himself
Pauline Collins	...	Elsa Tabori
Ulrich Tukur	...	SS Offizier / SS Officer
Natalie Morse	...	Maria
Robert Giggenbach	...	Cornelius Tabori
Heribert Sasse	...	Kellemen
Günter Bothur	...	Schnauzbart
Simon Verhoeven	...	Junger SS-Mann / Young SS Man
Buddy Elias	...	Rabbi
Peter Radtke	...	Mann im Rollstuhl / Man in Wheel Chair
Otto Grünmandl	...	Julius
Hana Frejkova	...	Martha
Jens Harzer	...	Mann im Schlafanzug / Man in Pyjamas
Tatiana Vilhelmová	...	Olga
István Iglódi	...	Usicky

Also Known As:

My Mother's Courage

Runtime:

Germany:93 min | USA:89 min | Argentina:93 min

Country:

Germany | UK | Austria | Ireland

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Germany:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Babelsberg Studios, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Sentana Filmproduktion

Quotes:

George Tabori: In Hungary, we had our own Nazis, but they were much shabbier than those in Germany. Look here: the shirts weren't properly ironed, the collars were stained. Look, this Mr. Usicky: he wears a brown boot and a black one. That would have been inconceivable with the Germans.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'The Producers' (2002) (V)

Almost Ruined By Its Post Modern Art House Values

As I said in my review of LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL I am not a fan of holocaust movies and find them to be consistently over rewarded at film festivals . I also find them to be a poor subject for a movie for several reasons not least because how can you successfully translate so much human suffering into a movie ? The answer is you can't . But MY MOTHER'S COURAGE ( As it is known in Britain ) is a lot going for it not least because it doesn't go in for a sweeping spectacular scope in order to tell a story . This another problem with the holocaust genre - the narrative often starts before the Second World War with smiling Jewish families , the Nazis invade Eastern Europe ( 1939 in the case of Poland . 1941 in the rest of the region ) the families are deported and the story continues until liberation in 1945 giving little time to concentrate on detail . This movie is different since the main part of the running time revolves around a train journey , and it's little details like toilet facilities on the train that make MY MOTHER'S COURAGE such a human tale of suffering , narrative wise this film doesn't really concern itself with millions upon millions of murders by the Hitler regime over a period of years , it's more concerned with a day in the life of Nazi victims who are going to end up in one of their death camps hence we've got a human story that humanity can relate to more . I also wish to stay something that may possibly make me unpopular and that is the way some of the Nazis are portrayed as being decent human beings . No don't pick me up wrong , I'm not sticking up for Nazism but scene where Elsa sits in the train carriage with the German officer towards the end of the film is unique as is Elsa's monologue towards the officer

Have you worked it out yet ? I found MY MOTHER'S COURAGE beautiful , haunting and touching , far more so than say SCHINDLER'S LIST and yet I have only awarded it four out of ten ! That's because the director Michael Verhoeven has made it into an inaccesible self referential pretentious art house movie of the worst kind . The story starts off with the real life George Tabori ( Son of Elsa ) addressing the audience then walking into a film studio where this production is being made and talking with Verhoeven and the cast . I have no idea what the point of all this is but it fails to work . We also have to endure ridiculous scenes where Tabori walks into the narrative and talks addresses the audience and says " Good morning " to the Nazi guards ! I wouldn't say this totally failed attempt to out do Lars Von Triers in a bizarre post modernist contest totally ruins the movie but it comes very , very close indeed and the story would have worked much better without this ridiculous gimmick