The Devil's Arithmetic (1999)

A 16-year-old American girl with an apathetic view towards her Jewish family history finds herself pulled through time into 1941 to a small Polish village where the Nazi have just began their genocidal propaganda.

Director:

Donna Deitch

Writers:

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

Stars:

Kirsten Dunst, Brittany Murphy, Paul Freeman

3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Polina Soloveicik	...	Sarah (as Paulina Soloveicik)

Storyline

This is another telling of the holocaust, but this time from the perspective of a modern teenage girl who only grudgingly accepts the Jewish traditions, but when she is asked to "open the front door" as part of the Seder feast finds herself, not unlike Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, to have entered the 1940's and has stepped into the life of a prisoner in one of the German death camps where she experiences all of its horrors firsthand.

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Plot Keywords:

jewish | nazi | 1940s | teenage girl | wizard of oz | 

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Taglines:

Live to tell

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Devil's Arithmetic

Filming Locations:

Ontario, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lietuvos Kinostudija, Millbrook Farm Productions, Punch Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie is the second movie that Kirsten Dunst and Brittany Murphy both stared together in. The first Drop Dead Gorgeous.

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Quotes

Hannah Stern: What I still don't understand is how so many people could be punished, men, women, and babies who didn't even have a chance to think about God.
Aunt Eva: Once I would have said you have to ask the Nazis. But now I know better, and I say you have to ask God. There is no one else. Do you know how to talk to God?
Hannah Stern: So quietly that only God can hear me.

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Connections

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

User Reviews

Emotionally Powerful and Excellent Education

While obviously this isn't a perfect education of the horrors of the Holocaust, it's not meant to be. This movie was based on a Young Adults' book, and it's transformed into a Young Adults' movie. It's not supposed to be a perfectly accurate portrayal, and it's not meant for historians or anything. But it is a touching film and excellent education for people to understand what it was like then. There are many powerful moments in the movie. A particularly impressive part, to me, was when Kirsten Dunst's character points to the number branded on her arm, and cries, "I wanted one of these!" referring to a tattoo. I think the highlight, however, was Brittany Murphy's incredible part. She was virtually unrecognizable, and her acting was superb. She literally threw herself into the part, and she shines. She truly is one of the greatest things about this movie.