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The Holocaust for Children

Artist & Author | Near Mt. Baker, WA | 04/23/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Of all the holocaust movies I've seen, I can't recall any others that focus on the children. Parents who would like to teach their children about the holocaust of the Jews during W.W.II would do well to show their children this movie because it is something to which they would be able to relate. There is little, if any bad language or violence; there is one brief sex scene between the mime and the children's teacher. On the whole, it is a wholesome movie about a great evil.



Quite a bit has been written by some other reviewers regarding Stella's fully naked body shown in one scene. It needs to be emphasized that it is in no way erotic; it is simply the thinking of a young girl who has been living in a dorm where baths and simply changing clothes would be in full view of the others, much like the Jewish Kibbutz children in Palestine during the same era. The only observation I would make is that it seems inconsistent for her to get in the tub with her underwear on, say "no looking" and then a few minutes later come into the next room innocently naked.



Another interesting element in this movie is that the mime was not Jewish. He, in fact, was held in suspicion by the Jews for some time. Parents, especially of Jewish children, might want to point out to their children that it wasn't just Jews the Germans killed.



The reason I don't give this five stars is that the whole episode seems to have been pointless. There is no evidence that anyone except the German officers and Jews, people within the ghetto, got the message of the Hansel & Gretel mime play. Apparently, the Red Cross people didn't understand the message, and were even so stupid they would buy that the mime had already left the camp for Paris only a few minutes after the show.



The main value of this movie is that it is one that can be used to show children what the ghettos during The Holocaust were like in a way that the children can relate.



[There is now a 2005 movie entitled "Fateless" that deals with a child's view of the Holocost. It is about a 14-year-old boy who is taken off a Budapest bus and sent to the concentration camps. He survivied the experience, and it is based on his actual real-life experiences. Unfortunately, it is in Hungarian, with subtitles. However, it is a NY Times 'Critic's Pick' movie and I feel it it worth watching even with the subtitiles.]"

Dubbed

J. M. Pierce | Milwaukee, WI, USA | 12/08/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I am very irritated that Amazon does not list anywhere that this movie is dubbed. I'm also irritated that it's dubbed in the first place. Thank you to everyone who wrote a review mentioning that this film is dubbed since Amazon neglected to provide this information at all. I would buy this movie if they offered a subtitled version."

A slow awakening

Reader B | Plymouth Meeting, PA USA | 07/02/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a chilling movie, but also slow paced. Tom Courtenay, in the role of a famous mime, is forced to stage a childrens play for the Gestapo to show the Red Cross that all is well in the 'Jew Town'. He slowly comes to the understanding of what is happening to the Jews, and he makes the play more and more elaborate, with a larger and larger cast. Unlike in Schindler's List, where the list meant life, his list only provides transient protection.



The movie is dubbed, and some of the singing voices appear to be all from one person. But then again, this is not a high budget film. Other than scene selection, there are no bells and whistles on the DVD."

You don't get better then this!

J. M. Pierce | 09/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A must for all who care about what happened to the Jews or gypsies in Germany and throughout Europe from the 1930's until the end of the war.This film is both moving and entertaining. It should be shown in all high schools around the country and throughout the world. A film for all serious movie buffs."