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73 of 77 found the following review helpful:
 A World Turned Upside Down and Inside Out: Could You SurviveFeb 20, 2004
By Dr. Victor S. Alpher
This is one of the best films in the genre--historial film from autobiography. Marco Hofschneider brings to brilliant life the story of Salamon Perel, a German Jew. From the days of Kristallnacht--the Night of Broken Glass, when Jewish businesses were trashed and vandalized throughout Germany, to his final reunification with his brother--to poignant to say more about this here...this is a cinematic masterpiece.I've seen few films that capture the turmoil of adolescent identity and identification so well. True, the Nazi era is the backdrop, but the themes couldn't be more universal. In that respect, it is also more relevant today, in 2004, than during the 1980s, when it was filmed--especially in America, where the American identity has been deconstructed so as to be hardly palpable. Also, it is equally relevant in Europe, where national distinctions could meld into a Confederacy if not a Union of some power. Politics aside, this is an intensely personal film, one where the unquestioned identity of youth (German) falls victim to oncoming War and cruel happenstance. Perel must continually revise his vision OF himself and FOR himself, and at one point wishes for nothing more than to be an Nazi, for a beautiful young German girl becomes enfatuated with him. How did he end up in this position, wearing the uniform of the Hitler Youth at an Elite boarding school in Berlin? Or lose his virginity to a high-ranking female Party member while he is escorted by train from the Eastern Front to Berlin, as a Folk Hero (Volksdeutscher Held). Perhaps you think it unimaginable. I do not. I've seen places in German where the remnants of Jewish culture and tradition are clear as day--such as a former High School for Jews in Berlin--with Hebrew and German inscribed clearly in the stones. No, though Germany seems to some a heartless pillar of unemotionality, efficiency, heartlessness, the German characters in Europa, Europa are as human as those found anywhere. They fall victim to their personal aspirations, desire to please, deceitfulness, betrayal...simply put, human. Although current fashion is to think of the period as one of the "banality of evil" (attributed to Hannah Arendt, Holocaust scholar), this film exposes the period as one more of human triumph and tragedy, and that, while we grow into adulthood, our personal identity is as much at the mercy of the passage of time and events as a unique, solitary construction. See this film! It will draw you into the themes of Life, Love, and Redemption, and be over leaving you desperate for more.
62 of 72 found the following review helpful:
I recommend it to everyone!Oct 26, 2000
By lenore531
I was introduced to this film in my German class, although I had thought to check it out years before after seeing it recommended in Seventeen Magazine. Since then I have seen it more times than I can count because I always end up telling my friends to watch it, and then we end up watching it together because I don't want anyone to lose it (and I do loan out all my other videos). This is a TRUE story of incredible luck (so incredible as to be quite unbelievable) and pluck through a very dark time in history. If it weren't for so many coincidences, Solomon Perel would not be around to tell his amazing story. You might recognize Julie Delpy (who plays Leni, the Nazi girlfriend) from French flims such as "White" and American films such as "Before Sunrise" and "An American Werewolf in Paris". She does a fine job here, as does the handsome young Marco Hofschneider in his role as Solly. (What other films is he in and where can I get them?, I sometimes ask myself...) If you are trying to learn German, watch it first with the subtitles, and then on the second viewing, try taping some paper over the subtitles on your tv screen (of course you should take the paper off during the part in Russian, unless of course you also happen to be studying Russian). If you are at least an intermediate German student, you will gain a lot from such a viewing. The language is clearly spoken, and not overly difficult. I have done this several times myself, and have found it incredibly helpful. There are a couple of scenes that may be offensive to sensitive people, and if you think of showing it in an American classroom, those are the parts you'll be forced to fast forward... (my German teacher found this out the hard way, but fortunatly there were only 4 of us in the class, and none of us complained). Overall, very highly recommended!
23 of 25 found the following review helpful:
When two tribes go to war...Sep 06, 2002
By Steven Cain
A simply breathtaking film about the best and worst that humanity has to offer. While the cast, production and direction cannot be faulted, it is the intelligent way in which the Nazis are depicted that gives Europa Europa its power. Like Swing Kids, Lucie Aubrac and Schindler's List, Europa Europa avoids the "white hats" and "black hats" approach to the characterizations. Yep, a lot of the Hitler Youth were decent kids, however misguided, and yes, some of the German military were just honest soldiers doing a job. It is this humanizing of the German and Russian sides that really draws you into this remarkable young man's (true) story. It is staggering to think that he could evade exposure for so long, given that the Germans, like the British, never circumcized male babies except for medical reasons. Apart from all of the chaos and imminent physical danger, this "will he won't he be discovered" adds an almost unbearable level of tension to what is already a gripping movie. The nonsensical racial purity classes underscore the ideas put forward by Dr. Angela Davis that race and even gender are more of a social construct than a question of biological essence. An astounding tribute to the courage and resourcefulness of a true survivor in a world gone mad.
28 of 33 found the following review helpful:
 Your friend, your enemy, you....Oct 15, 2003
By M. G Watson
"Miles Watson"
I caught this movie originally on cable a few minutes into the film and was instantly intrigued and completely confused. A Jewish kid in the German Army? And the Hitler Youth? And in love with a German girl who says nice things like 'If there were a Jew here right now, I'd cut his throat!' right before she asks him to father her child. What the hell was going on here? What was going on was 'Europa, Europa', an outstanding and often funny (true) story of a teen of German-Jewish extraction named Jupp who in 1939 was in the Communist Youth League in one of the Soviet-occupied Baltic territories, and ended up being captured by the Germans when they invaded the USSR in 1941. Naturally he concealed his Jewish identity and, believing him to be Volksdeutsch (a non-German of German blood, and therefore automatically a German citizen under Hitler's laws) the Wehrmacht drafted him as a soldier-translator. This begins Jupp's double life....a few months ago he was a Communist and a Jew, and now he's a German and a Nazi....just imagine this kid's confusion. The soldiers of his unit adopt him as a sort of mascot, and even when one of the soldiers discovers his secret, he does not betray him. The mutual affection between Jupp and the soldiers becomes real over time, and leads to Jupp's first crisis of identity: how can he be friends and comrades with men who believe Jews are evil, sub-human scum? Things get even more complicated when the violently anti-Semetic commander of the unit offers to adopt Jupp and send him back to Germany to join a Hitler Youth hostel. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Jupp finds the Hitler Youth both a dream and a nightmare. On the one hand, much of the Nazi propaganda turns out to be true -- the boys are tough, fun-loving, comradely, and loyal. They enjoy their singing, marching, and sports, and they are truly inspired by the destruction of snobbery and class privelege which was a central objective of National Socialism (Nazism). On the other hand, they sing charming songs like "sharpen your knives on the paving stone, the Jewish blood will run" and spend time in class learning to 'spot' Jews and other sub-humans through racial characteristics (Jupp is selected as a good example of Baltic Aryan blood). These kids remind you of darling young tiger cubs that will grow up into man-eaters: they are both charming and frightening. Much of the movie is a black-comic attempt by Jupp to fit in as a loyal German youth while hiding his Jewish identity from his friends, which is tough on account of being circumcised in a society where circumcision was performed only among Jews (there are some lengths Jupp goes to to disguise this fact that will make any man watching EXTREMELY uncomfortable....I kept thinking "God, that poor kid!"). As you can imagine, when he falls for a lovely Arayan maiden, disguising this fact becomes even harder. As the war roars towards its conclusion, Jupp is torn by the loyalty and sense of belonging he feels in the HJ/Nazi Germany and his true identity. After the defeat at Stalingrad, the mourning boys gather and sing poignantly together as brothers, and Jupp mourns with them. The fact that he is clearly not faking shows the turmoil and conflict in his young heart. Is he Jupp, the Jew, or Jupp, the Nazi? "Europa, Europa" is different from 'Holocaust' type movies in that it injects a lot of humor into otherwise horrible situations without cheapening what happened. This is an undeniably tragic and moving film; it is also pretty damn funny. But it will also make you mad, and the really infuriating thing for the viewer is the colossal waste of it all -- the movie shows how the egalitarian ideals of National Socialism inspired, moved, and united young people, but was perverted by race hatred, anti-Semetism, and bloodlust, and ulyimately had to be destroyed at a terrible cost to everybody involved. What a stupid, criminal waste of millions of able young men, who were taught to hate people really no different than themselves. What a pity the Germans chose to forget the many Jews who served ably and courageously for their country in World War I, and bought into Hitler's insane hatred of them, a hatred which was not only stupid but hypocritical. After all, the man who in 1917 or so recommended a young Corporal Hitler for his Iron Cross First Class was a lieutnant named Hugo Gutmann....but somehow I'm willing to bet that fact never came up in any Hitler Youth class. Too bad for Jupp, and too bad for Europa.
16 of 18 found the following review helpful:
Read the book before watching this movie.Oct 02, 1999
I've watched Europa Europa countless times since I first saw it. It's a totally amazing movie that everybody should see. The acting by all is very good. The only thing I would recommend though is that the book be read first. I saw the movie first, and later after having read the book, I noticed that some things were left out of the movie. There are also some parts of the movie that aren't accurate to the true story written by Solomon Perel in his book. I would probably give this movie five stars if it would've been more faithful to the book. This is a recommended film, just read the book first for the complete accurate story of what happened.
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