Polish writer-director Agnieszka Holland's 1990 release Europa Europa is maybe the most unique and whimsical Holocaust film you will ever see. But it is nonetheless powerful, and the story itself is even more remarkable because it's true.
Based on his memoir, it follow young German Jew Salomon "Solly" Perel (Marco Hofschneider), who, after leaping naked out of his bathroom window when the Nazis invade his family's house, travels across southern Europe, assuming various disguises (most notably in a Nazi uniform) in order to survive and be reunited with his brother Isak (Hofschneider's real-life brother Rene, who originallty had the lead before financing fell apart).
Of course, hiding his circumcision often proves hard, especially when Solly wins the attractions of Leni (Julie Delpy), a cute but very anit-Semitic girl, and a gay Nazi officer. But as the war drags on, Solly becomes ever-more resourceful, clever and determined to survive and find Isak.
Agnieszka Holland, who has since directed several Hollywood movies like 1995's The Secret Garden and episodes of House of Cards (U.S.) and The Wire, livens this bleak story with several rather spontaneous fantasy scenes like Hitler and Stalin in a waltz, but these never feel incongruous or trivialising, and she keeps a very controlled track of Solly's psychological progression and the human costs the war amassed, particularly in the former's case with a dinner scene between Solly and Leni's mother (Halina Labonarska). Holland and her crew also flawlessly recreate the ambiances and aesthetic feel of the era, and her nicely layered screenplay was deservedly Oscar-nominated. PLus, Zbigniew Preisner's score is perfectly suspenseful and evocative, and the combat scenes beautifully staged.
Holland also found the ideal star in Marco Hofschneider (where is he now?), who expertly takes Solly from an innocent, slightly cheeky boy to a damaged young man who survives the war with a newfound pride in his Jewishness, and also convinces as each of Solly's fake identities. Then there's Julie Delpy in her first significant role, appropriately cold in Leni's expression of her ideologies but still offering flashes of the naive, vulnerable little girl underneath.
Overall, Europa Europa is a very striking, emotional watch, with a very unusual perspective of the Third Reich. Sadly, that's no less relevant now, either. But maybe what Europa Europa leaves us with most is a reminder of the reality that sometimes, we all must play pretend.
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