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 ...

---

Plot Keywords:

peasant | nazi | boy | prayer | farmer | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance | War

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Production company

Country:

USA Poland

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 2001 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Az úr morzsái

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:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

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.

---

Goofs

The movie had numerous religious errors. This was pre-Vatican II, so the Catholic Church was quite different. Some of the religious errors were not all women wearing something on their heads during Mass, no altar rail, the priest didn't say the correct statement before distributing communion, and they should not have said "Amen" after communion.

---

Quotes

Tolo: What are they doing?
Vladek: They're lying naked on top of each other.
Tolo: That's awful.

---

Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

The film is 10/10 !!

I consider this film to be the best one with Haley J. Osment. I must admit that first I watched it only because HJO was starring in it (and because the film was shot in my country, ie Poland). Not only does Haley play wonderfully, but also the film itself is very good, mixing the times of WWII with the fragile construction of children's psyche. The film was made in Poland, so it was very nice to see Haley playing in Polish landscapes. I must say I am very surprised that the film was not yet released in the US. In Poland it was shown in cinemas in 2001. In January 2003 the film was released on DVD. A few weeks ago (November 2003) the movie was on TV so it had really wide audience. I don't understand why such a good movie was not released in the US !! If you want, you can write to me: (make sure it's o2, and not 02).