#985: HOLLAND, Agnieszka: Europa Europa (1990)

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HOLLAND, Agnieszka (Poland)
Europa Europa [1990]
Spine #985
Blu-ray


As World War II splits Europe, sixteen-year-old German Jew Salomon (Marco Hofschneider) is separated from his family after fleeing with them to Poland, and finds himself reluctantly assuming various ideological identities in order to hide the deadly secret of his Jewishness. He is bounced from a Soviet orphanage, where he plays a dutiful Stalinist, to the Russian front, where he hides in plain sight as an interpreter for the German army, and back to his home country, where he takes on his most dangerous role: a member of the Hitler Youth. Based on the real-life experiences of Salomon Perel, Agnieszka Holland's wartime tour de force Europa Europa is a breathless survival story told with the verve of a comic adventure, an ironic refutation of the Nazi idea of racial purity, and a complex portrait of a young man caught up in shifting historical calamities and struggling to stay alive.

112 minutes
Color
Monaural
in German, Russian and Polish
1:66:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2019
Director/Writers


Based on the autobiography of Salomon Perel.
Agnieszka Holland was 42 when she directed Europa Europa.

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

 The Booklet

Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by film critic Amy Taubin.

Commentary

From 2008 featuring Holland.

Interviews

With Holland and actor Hofschneider.

Interview

With Perel, on whose autobiography the film is loosely based.

Video essay

By film scholar Annette Insdorf.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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