The Devil's Arithmetic (1999) (TV)

Director:

Donna Deitch

Writers (WGA):

Jane Yolen (novel)
Robert J. Avrech (teleplay)

Release Date:

28 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Live to tell

Plot:

This is another telling of the holocaust, but this time from the perspective of a modern teenage girl...

Plot Keywords:

Concentration Camp | Holocaust | WWII | Based On Novel

Awards:

3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Kirsten Dunst	...	Hannah Stern
Brittany Murphy	...	Rivkah
Paul Freeman	...	Rabbi
Mimi Rogers	...	Leonore Stern
Louise Fletcher	...	Aunt Eva
Lilo Baur	...	Mina
Nitzan Sharron	...	Ariel
Shelly Skandrani	...	Leah
Daniel Brocklebank	...	Shmuel
Kirsty McFarland	...	Yetta
Rachel Roddy	...	Esther
Ieva Jackeviciute	...	Miriam
Philip Rham	...	Commandant Krieger
Daniel Rausch	...	Officer Steinbach
Paulina Soloveicik	...	Sarah

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | UK:12 | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-11 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Lithuania

Company:

Lietuvos Kinostudija

Movie Connections:

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

surprisingly good

I think the movie is even better than the book, and the book is excellent. The movie changed Hannah and Rivkeh to be in their mid-teens rather than only about 11 as in the "Young Adult" novel. This might have been done for an "inside-the-box" reason, namely so that the director could work with more mature performers. But whatever the reason, the change was for the better, as it made the story more realistic to me -- I can "buy" that 16-year-olds could survive without parents in a concentration camp, but not 11-year-olds!

I expected a good performance from Kirsten Dunst, who is known for serious work. But the one who was a revelation was Brittany Murphy, more associated with (mediocre) light comedy (such as "Summer Catch" and "Just Married"). With dark hair, dark eyes and a believable Polish accent, she utterly disappears into the role of Rivkeh.

To answer a question posed by a previous poster, about why the great-aunt changed her name ... one reason, not obvious to the casual viewer, comes out of Jewish tradition. It is an old custom for a Jew, after having narrowly escaped death, to take a completely different first name. The (somewhat superstitious) belief is that you are trying to fool the Angel of Death; if you have a different name now, he won't realize it's you and therefore won't try to take you again! The other two reasons are more obvious: She was honoring her friend who sacrificed her life for her, and she was beginning a new life in America (many Jews and others took new names when they immigrated).