Fighter (2000)

Director:

Amir Bar-Lev

Release Date:

24 August 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Loyalty, The Limits of Friendship, and Fighting Back.

Plot:

Filmmaker Amir Bar-Lev follows two Czech Holocaust survivors, Jan Weiner and Arnost Lustig, as they revisit Terezin, a labor camp where Arnost was interned for five years and Jan's mother was murdered.

Plot Keywords:

Holocaust Survivor | Friend | Holocaust | Old Age | Holocaust Memories

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Arnost Lustig	...	Himself
Jan Wiener	...	Himself

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Czech

Color:

Black and White | Color

Company:

Next Wave Films

An Interesting take on a common type of documentary

I have seen many documentaries in which a survivor returns to his or her place of internment. These films (especially "The Last Days") have the rare ability to both capture the past and show its affect on the present. If "Fighter" was simply another version of these types of films, it would have been one of the poorer examples; however, this film does something that none of the other films in the survivor series does: it questions the survivor, and does not simply accept his story as true. This very tough role in the film is taken on by Jan's friend and fellow survivor. Their philosophical banter and semantical games are what this film worth the time. They turn what is really a sad journey into some strange "Grumpier Old Men" sequel. I have to say that the film was much different than I expected, but what I got in place was perhaps more meaningful than what I wanted. 7/10