Europa Europa (1990)

A boy in Nazi Germany, trying to conceal that he is Jewish, joins the Hitler Youth.

Director:

Agnieszka Holland

Writers:

Agnieszka Holland, Solomon Perel (memoir: Ich war Hitlerjunge Salomon)

Stars:

Solomon Perel, Marco Hofschneider, René Hofschneider

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Solomon Perel	...	Salomon Perel heute (as Salomon Perel)
Marco Hofschneider	...	Salomon Perel jung
René Hofschneider	...	Isaak
Piotr Kozlowski	...	David
Klaus Abramowsky	...	Vater
Michèle Gleizer	...	Mutter
Marta Sandrowicz	...	Bertha
Nathalie Schmidt	...	Basia
Delphine Forest	...	Inna
Andrzej Mastalerz	...	Zenek
Martin Maria Blau	...	Ulmayer
Wlodzimierz Press	...	Stalin's Sohn
Klaus Kowatsch	...	Schulz
Holger Kunkel	...	Kramer
Bernhard Howe	...	Feldwebel

Storyline

A Jewish boy, separated from his family in the early days of WWII, poses as a German orphan and is thereafter taken into the heart of the Nazi world as a 'war hero' and eventually made a Hitler Youth. Although improbabilities and happenstance are cornerstones of the film, it is based upon a true story.

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Plot Keywords:

circumcision | hitler youth | nazi | jewish | german | 

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Taglines:

In the tradition of Voltaire's Candide and Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird.

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for mature treatment of holocaust issues

Details

Country:

Germany France Poland

Language:

German Russian Polish Hebrew

Release Date:

14 November 1990 (France)

Also Known As:

Europa Europa

Filming Locations:

Poland

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$31,433, 30 June 1991, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$5,575,738

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), The Senate of Berlin

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was shot simultaneously in English and German.

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Goofs

At one point Salomon narrowly misses being killed in an air-raid, which kills his roommate. Rather than show a World War II aircraft, or even a bomber, stock footage shows a single C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, which was not even designed until many years after the war.

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Quotes

Goethke: The composition of Jewish blood is totally different from ours. The Jew has a high forehead, a hooked nose, a flat back of the head, ears that stick out, and he has an ape-like walk. His eyes are shifty and cunning. He never looks you in the eye. He waves his hands about, makes exaggerated gestures, and he fawns before you, but the minute your back is turned he leaps at your throat! The Nordic man is the gem of this Earth. He's the most glowing example of the joy of creation. He is not only the...

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Connections

Referenced in Na plovárne: Na plovárne s Agnieszkou Holland (2017)

User Reviews

The best Holocaust feature film I have seen.

I reckon 'Europa Europa' to be the best Holocaust feature film ever produced. I have been using this film for many years to teach the Holocaust to British 14-year-olds. They identify with the central character of Saloman Perel, a German-Jewish boy who survives the Holocaust by hiding his identity in ever more difficult circumstances. The film moves at a cracking pace and the music adds to the dramatic tension. A lot of difficult history is made accessible in a very entertaining and often comical way - Nazi and Communist indoctrination of the young, Jews and homosexuals as outsiders in the new Reich, the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the events of the Second World War. We have a great sense of the individual being swept along by the most destructive tide that history has yet unleashed.

The comic relief is a stark contrast to 'Schindler's List', a copy of which was donated by Spielberg to every British high school.The film is too long, slow and dark to appeal to the age group in question and I have not used it since coming across 'Europa Europa'.

Julie Delpy plays the female romantic lead as the delectable Leni, attractive but flawed, a perfect tribute to Nazi teaching methods. On the other hand there is a sympathetic portrayal of Germans who were not Nazis and who were just as much victims as the Jews. The film explores the human complexities which result when an ideology is allowed to mediate personal and social interaction. There is a lot going on in this film at many levels, but none of it detracts from the entertainment value.

Marco Hofschneider portrays Perel as a vulnerable but resourceful human being, a boy who desperately wishes to be normal in abnormal times. The adolescent quest for self-identity and self-assertion is not an easy option for a Jew on the run. This 'enforced self-denial' theme is successfully maintained throughout the film by its autobiographical format. The schizophrenic implications of being both German and Jewish during the Nazi period are well illustrated.

This film has held the attention of hundreds of 14 year-olds, without exception. Although not aimed specifically at this age-group, it strikes a particular chord with adolescents who can identify with the main character. It is a major contribution to making the Holocaust both accessible and entertaining. There should be no conflict of interest here. Just as the recent film 'Downfall' successfully 'humanises' Hitler by displaying the personal charm which he exercised over so many people, so 'Europa Europa' humanises the Holocaust by its concentration on the survival of one human being. This is its chief strength. I have never tired of watching this film.

'The Pianist' is also concerned with the survival of the individual but is a more 'static' and slightly less entertaining film. Its pace is much slower. 'Escape from Sobibor' is an excellent portrayal of how several hundred slave labourers escaped from this death camp and gives a vivid and unrelenting account of the camp system. It provides balance to the notion of Jews as passive victims. Not to be missed. The American TV series 'Holocaust' is good but long. It successfully turned the Holocaust into a soap opera lasting many hours. To my knowledge it and the 2002 film 'Amen.'contain the only re-enactments of how Zyklon-B crystals were tipped into the 'shower-room'. 'Holocaust' also shows gas chamber procedures.