Europa, Europa (Agnieszka Holland, 1990)
Excerpt:
"Europa Europa" makes for a fascinating parable despite the fact that--or perhaps especially because--much of the story is true. Salomon Perel's story--of a young Jew who flees Nazi persecution, is forced to join the Russian "Kosmonol" and later the "Hitler-Jugend"--speaks to our morally ambivalent age: was Salomon (or Solly, as he's sometimes called) a hero or heel? How far should someone go to guarantee his survival? Is his declaring his Jewishness at war's end Salomon's way of rising up to reclaim his original identity, or yet another ploy he's playing to be accepted, to stay alive? And--though we may not actually have seen such an event and Salomon never admits to doing so (and I would understand if he never did), the thought comes up in one's mind--did he ever turn in or have a role in turning in a fellow Jew during his time with the Nazis?
No comments:
Post a Comment