Spielzeugland (2007)

Director:

Jochen Alexander Freydank

Writers:

Johann A. Bunners (writer)
Jochen Alexander Freydank (writer)

Genre:

Short | Drama

Plot:

1942: what happens when a German kid believes that his Jewish neighbors are going to Toyland? A story about lies and guilt. |

Plot Keywords:

Train | Holocaust | Friendship Between Boys | Ruse | Deception

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 21 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Julia Jäger	...	Marianne
Cedric Eich	...	Heinrich
Tamay Bulut Özvatan	...	David Silberstein
Torsten Michaelis	...	Herr Silbertein
Claudia Hübschmann	...	Frau Silberstein
David C. Bunners	...	Obersturmführer
Gregor Weber	...	SS-Mann Werner
Jürgen Trott	...	Schutzpolizist
Klaus-Jürgen Steinmann	...	Blockwart
Heike Reichenwallner	...	Nachbarin
Matthias Paul	...	Gestapo - Mann

Also Known As:

Toyland (International: English title) (USA) (literal English title)

Runtime:

USA:13 min | Germany:13 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Mephisto Film

Movie Connections:

Featured in 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009) (TV)

Very good and probably the odds on favorite for the Oscar

Today I went with three friends to a special showing of all the films nominated for the 2009 Oscar for Best Live Action Short. Oddly, the four of us were in pretty much agreement about the films. Our pick for best of the nominees was PIG ("Grisen"), though ON THE LINE ("Auf der Strecke") was a very good film and is nearly as deserving of the award. We predicted that TOYLAND ("Spielzeugland"), however, will win the award because it's the sort of the film the Academy tends to like AND because PIG might ruffle some feathers because it is not "politically correct". I'll update this review after the awards are given.

TOYLAND is a film set during the Nazi era. A boy asks his mother about why all his neighbors (all Jews) are disappearing. She explains that everything is okay and that they have gone to "Toyland". Unfortunately, it sounds like such a nice place that the kid hopes to go there, too, and the film begins with him sneaking off with a shipment of Jews to the concentration camps because he wants to visit this magical place.

Much of the film consists of the mother trying to find the boy and eventually the SS officers help her to try to locate the boy. This all ends in a marvelous twist that I won't reveal here, but this twist takes the film from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

A lovely film that will probably win--in part, because the film is about an important subject that the Academy seems to like, the Holocaust (and highly reminiscent of LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL), and in part because it is so exceptionally well-crafted from start to finish. My only reservation is that the print was awfully dark--practically everything looked black at times. Perhaps it was just a bad print.

UPDATE: It's official, TOYLAND is the winner. This didn't surprise me at all and it was well deserving of the award, though I was still pulling for PIG to take the honors.