Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Mark Jonathan Harris

Writer (WGA):

Mark Jonathan Harris (written by)

Release Date:

23 November 2000 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary | War

Tagline:

In the nine months prior to World War II, 10,000 innocent children left behind their families, their homes, their childhood, and took the journey...

Plot:

The story of the child refugees who were transported to Britain to escape the Nazi Holocaust.

Plot Keywords:

England | Jew | Holocaust | Refugee | 1930s

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Lorraine Allard	...	Herself
Lory Cahn	...	Auschwitz survivor
Mariam Cohen	...	Kurt Fuchel's foster mother
Mirka Colman	...	(voice)
Judi Dench	...	Narrator
Hedy Epstein	...	Herself
Kurt Fuchel	...	Documentary Subject
Alexander Gordon	...	Documentary Subject
Franzi Groszmann	...	Lore Segal's mother
Eva Hayman	...	Herself
Jack Hellman	...	Himself
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alexander Leeb	...	(voice)
Bertha Leverton	...	Herself
Mia Martin	...	(voice)
Ursula Rosenfeld	...	Herself
Inge Sadan	...	Bertha Leverton's sister
Kevin Schwarzwald	...	(voice)
Petra Schwarzwald	...	(voice)
Lore Segal	...	Documentary Subject
Benjamin Singer	...	(voice)
Robert Sugar	...	Himself
Giulia Tassius	...	(voice)
Emilia Von Spreti	...	(voice)
Lavinia Von Spreti	...	(voice)
Nicholas Winton	...	Kindertransport organizer
Norbert Wollheim	...	Documentary Subject

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:PG | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Germany:o.Al. (bw) | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Waddesdon Manor, Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Sabine Films

Movie Connections:

Follows My Knees Were Jumping: Remembering the Kindertransports (1996)

Soundtrack:

Hänschen klein ging allein

Stolen childhood

"Into the Arms of Strangers", directed by Mark Jonathan Harris, is a loving account of what parents resort to do in order to save their children from a tragedy that was looming over Europe. Having missed this film when it was first released, we caught up with it in the DVD format that has been lovingly transferred to that medium.

The story of the "Kindertransport" is recounted by some of the children that participated in it. We watch them as they are today, and through pictures, and sometimes on those old newsreels and films where they are captured as children in Germany, and the countries where the prosecution of Jews took an ugly turn.

Our heart goes to some of these older people that speak with such dignity in spite of what was done to them and their families. It's a tribute to the people who tell us what happened to them in the way they express their experiences without venom, or malice. After all, these persons showcased in the documentary are all survivors, something that thousands other Jewish children didn't have the same fate.

One can only imagine what these individuals went through at such an early life, many without being able to speak English, or made themselves understood in the households that received them. Imagine a child separated from loving parents having to deal with a world gone mad. It speaks volumes the people that tells us their stories turned out to be the way they did!

Dame Judy Dench's narration works well in the context of the material being shown. Mark Jonathan Harris has made a valuable contribution to show the whole world how a mad man changed these children's lives, and their parents' forever.