Edges of the Lord (2001)

A twelve-year-old Jewish boy hides with a family of Catholic peasant farmers to escape the Nazis.

Director:

Yurek Bogayevicz

Writer:

Yurek Bogayevicz

Stars:

Haley Joel Osment, Willem Dafoe, Richard Banel

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Haley Joel Osment	...	Romek
Willem Dafoe	...	Priest
Richard Banel	...	Vladek
Liam Hess	...	Tolo
Olaf Lubaszenko	...	Gniecio
Malgorzata Foremniak	...	Manka
Andrzej Grabowski	...	Kluba
Chiril Vahonin	...	Robal
Olga Frycz	...	Maria
Dorota Piasecka	...	Ela Kluba
Wojciech Smolarz	...	Pyra
Marek Weglarski	...	Max
Edyta Jurecka	...	Sara
Ryszard Ronczewski	...	Batylin
Krystyna Feldman	...	Wanda

Storyline

Polish 12 year-young city Jew Romek gets a crash-course in Catholicsim from his daddy ('stay hanging by your arms till your prayers are perfect') so he can be sent away and escape deportation (Auschwitz?) hiding in the country where the clergy found a host, Gniecio's simple peasant family, posing as their city relative. Gniecio's eldest son Vladek proves rather tyrannical but no brighter then gullible junior Tollo, who takes a role play in catechism class to 'become' a Last Supper character, in his case Jesus, to the extreme, even training for a crucifixion from a tree. Neighbor Batylin and his wife are executed by the Nazis when their illegally kept pig is found. Kluba plays a dirty trick when Gniecio tries to sell his in the city; his son is as problematic for the boys, who meanwhile play involving a single girl-playmate, Maria, who takes Romek in when he's stupidly thrown out by his widowed host by mistake. The horror of war itself suddenly shows its ugly head again, big time and ...

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Plot Keywords:

peasant | nazi | boy | prayer | farmer | 

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Taglines:

In the holocaust of war his only refuge was his imagination.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence and sexual content

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie wasn't released in USA due to commercial difficulties right away. There were plans to release it theatrically, but to no avail. It was released straight to DVD.

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Goofs

When Mr. Lipa's corpse is being viewed by the neighbors, you can see his crossed hands move up and down and tell he's still breathing.

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Quotes

Romek: Are we blessed? Or are we just the edges?
Priest: We are all scraps, Romek, and we are all blessed the same.
Romek: But not all the people right?

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Soundtracks

Before Your Eyes
Lyrics by Elzbieta Bieluszko-Kaczmarek
Music by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Published by Sova Media International (ASCAP)

User Reviews

"Edges of the lord", a lesson in the history of oppression

"Edges of the lord" is a low-budget World War II drama about an intelligent young Jewish boy, geniusly portrayed by Haley Joel Osment, who is seperated from his parents in the very beginning of the film by the Nazis, invading Poland. The boy is sent, kicking and screaming, to relatives living in a captured village far from the larger communities. There he integrates with the family under hard prohibition from revealing that he is a Jew. He bonds especially with the youngest son of his host family, the imaginative and charismatic Tolo, who is played to excellence by newcomer Liam Hess, and his older brother Vladek (Richard Banel). As the plot moves forward we see the Nazi oppression of the Polish farmers and one of many faces of war: betrail and looting of prisoners of war, even by the Polish locals. Osment's character is, for the first time, demanded to go to church, read Christian psalms and hide his Jewish origin. The local priest, played by Willem Dafoe, offers him an alternative by schooling him separately and letting him perform the Christian traditions as a sole appearance. The story is full of moral choices and dilemmas that gets you thinking about, although not very sympathetic, for the characters' situations in life. This movie has shown me nothing more than what I have already seen. Many outstanding performers are fighting the edgeless script and make the film worth seeing. Perhaps expectations were set to high, but I would only be able to give this interesting flop a 7 for really good acting and an interesting theme.

Details

Official Sites:

Production company

Country:

USA Poland

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 2001 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Edges of the Lord

Filming Locations:

Kraków, Malopolskie, Poland

Box Office

Budget:

$7,500,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$154,768

Company Credits

Production Co:

Braun Entertainment Group, Canal+, Komitet Kinematografii

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1