Europa Europa
Europa Europa | |
---|---|
Directed by | Agnieszka Holland |
Screenplay by | Agnieszka Holland |
Based on | I Was Hitler Youth Salomon by Solomon Perel |
Produced by | Artur Brauner Margaret Ménégoz |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Jacek Petrycki |
Edited by |
|
Music by | Zbigniew Preisner |
Distributed by | Orion Pictures (US) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 112 minutes |
Countries | |
Languages | Yiddish |
Box office | $5,575,738 (domestic)[4] |
Europa Europa (
The film is an
Plot
In 1938, in
Solek lives in the orphanage for two years, where he joins the Komsomol, receives a communist education, and learns Russian. He takes a romantic interest in Inna, a young instructor who defends him when the authorities discover his class origin is bourgeois. Solek receives a letter from his parents informing him of their imprisonment in the Łódź Ghetto.
Solek is captured by German soldiers during the
Solek avoids any public bathing or urinating, as his
At the school, Solek is very careful to hide his circumcision. Leni, a member of the
During his leave from the Academy, Solek travels to Łódź to find his family; however, the ghetto is sealed off and guarded. Solek rides a tram that travels through the ghetto, observing sights of tortured and starved people. Later, Solek visits Leni's mother, who does not sympathize with the Nazis. She tells him Leni is pregnant by Solek's roommate, Gerd, and will give up the child to theLebensborn program. When Leni's mother presses Josef on his identity, he breaks down and confesses he is Jewish; she promises not to betray him.
Solek is summoned to the Gestapo offices. There, he is prodded about his supposed parentage and is asked to show a "Certificate of Racial Purity". When Solek claims the certificate is in Grodno, the Gestapo official says he will send for it. As Solek leaves to meet with Gerd, the building is destroyed by Allied bombs; Solek survives while Gerd dies in the bombing.
As Soviet troops close in on Berlin, the Hitler Youth are sent to the front lines. Solek deserts his unit and surrenders to the Soviets. His captors doubt that he is a Jew and accuse him of being a traitor. There, Solek learns of the Nazi death camps. The Soviets are about to have him shot when Solek's brother Isaak, just released from a camp, recognizes Solek. Isaak reveals their parents were killed years prior when the Łódź Ghetto was "liquidated". Shortly thereafter, Solek emigrates to the British Mandate of Palestine.
The real Solomon Perel, seen in modern day, sings as the film fades to a close.
Cast
- Solomon Perel as himself
- Marco Hofschneider as Solomon "Solek" Perel
- René Hofschneider as Isaak Perel
- Piotr Kozlowski as David Perel
- Klaus Abramowsky as Solomon's father
- Michèle Gleizer as Solomon's mother
- Marta Sandrowicz as Berta
- Nathalie Schmidt as Basia
- Delphine Forest as Inna
- Andrzej Mastalerz as Zenek
- Włodzimierz Press as Stalin's son
- Martin Maria Blau as Ulmayer
- Hanns Zischler as Hauptmann
- André Wilms as Robert Kellerman, soldier
- Ashley Wanninger as Gerd
- Julie Delpy as Leni
- Halina Łabonarska as Leni's mother
Release
Box office
The film was given a limited release in the United States on 28 June 1991, and grossed $31,433 in its opening weekend in two theaters. Its final international gross was US$5,575,738.[4]
Reception
Europa Europa received widespread acclaim from critics. Europa Europa has an approval rating of 95% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 21 reviews, and an average rating of 7.8/10. [6]
Writing for the Los Angeles Times, critic Michael Wilmington lauded the film's multi-faceted structure, calling Europa Europa "a tense suspense story, an ironic romance, and a truly black comedy — all driving toward a dark crisis of identity".[7]
In a positive review, Janet Maslin of The New York Times said it "accomplishes what every film about the Holocaust seeks to achieve: It brings new immediacy to the outrage by locating specific, wrenching details that transcend cliche".[8]
Hal Hinson, of The Washington Post, praised the direction, saying "Holland isn't a dour moral instructor; she's an ironist with a deft ability to capture the absurd aspects of her material and keep them in balance with the tragic".[9] Hinson commended the film for its "[awareness] of the toll [Solly's] shape-shifting compromises exacts".[9] Desson Howe, also of The Post, was more critical, citing the film's "emotional distance",[10] and, similarly to Maslin, said the film did not fully probe Solly's conscience.[10]
Best Foreign Film controversy
As it won four major "best foreign-language film" prizes from American critics' groups of the 1991 awards season, Europa Europa was strongly regarded as a contender for a Best Foreign Film Oscar for the 64th Academy Awards ceremony.[7] However, the German Export Film Union, which oversaw the Oscar selection committee for German films, declined to submit the film for a nomination.[11] The committee reasoned the film did not meet certain eligibility criteria, such as not qualifying as a German film.[7][11] However, the film was a co-production between Germany, Poland, and France;[7] in addition, much of the film is spoken in German, while the film's producer and much of the cast and crew is German.[11] Export committee members reportedly called the film "junk" and "an embarrassment".[11][12] The film's unconventional use of black comedy, as opposed to full tragedy, in a Holocaust film has been speculated to be a main cause for the committee's omission.[13][14][15] The omission prompted leading German film-makers to write a public letter of support for the film and its director, Agnieszka Holland.[16][17] The letter signees included Werner Herzog, Wolfgang Petersen, and Wim Wenders.[7][16]
Despite the film's omission, it went on to be a critical and commercial success in the United States,[7] where it became the second most successful German film, after 1981's Das Boot,[16] and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.[18]
Accolades
Home media
The film was released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment on 4 March 2003.[27] The Criterion Collection released a special edition Blu-ray of the film on 9 July 2019.[28]
References
- ^ a b "Hitlerjunge Salomon". filmportal.de (in German). Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ "Europa Europa". British Film Institute. London: BFI Film & Television Database. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ "Europa Europa". Bifi.fr (in French). Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- ^ a b Europa Europa at Box Office Mojo
- ^ "Grodno". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
- ^ "Europa, Europa", Rotten Tomatoes, retrieved 2022-12-12
- ^ a b c d e f Wilmington, Michael (18 February 1992). ""Europa" at Center of Oscar Storm: Commentary: Debate over why the film won't be a foreign-language nominee reveals inequities of process". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ a b Hinson, Hal (9 August 1991). "'Europa Europa'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ Howe, Desson (9 August 1991). "'Europa Europa'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ Iannone, Pasquale (October 2011). "Europa Europa". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ Taubin, Amy (9 July 2019). "Europa Europa: Border States". The Criterion Collection.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ Thomas, Kevin (29 January 1992). "Germany Divided on "Europa": Movies: German film-makers protest the German Export Film Union's decision not to enter "Europa Europa" for best foreign-language film in the Academy Awards". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ a b "The 64th Academy Awards (1992) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2011.
- ^ "BSFC Winners: 1990s". Boston Society of Film Critics. 27 July 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- BAFTA. 1993. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
- HFPA. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ^ "KCFCC Award Winners – 1990-99". kcfcc.org. 14 December 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ "The Annual 17th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
- ^ "1991 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ^ "Past Awards". National Society of Film Critics. 19 December 2009. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ^ "1991 New York Film Critics Circle Awards". Mubi. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ^ "Europa Europa DVD". Amazon. 4 March 2003. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ Lybarger, Dan (26 July 2019). "Europa Europa deserving of its Criterion status". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
External links
- Europa Europa at IMDb
- Europa Europa at Rotten Tomatoes
- Europa Europa: Border States an essay by Criterion Collection
- A Life Stranger Than the Movie, 'Europa, Europa,' Based on It an interview with Solomon Perel