Europa Europa (1990)
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Europa Europa Movie Review
Europa Europa is a 1990 German historical drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland and starring Marco Hofschneider. It is a messy, but undeniably engaging period flick.
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“Nobody hits a pure bred German woman in the face“
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A boy in Nazi Germany, trying to conceal that he is Jewish, joins the Hitler Youth. This script is actually based on a true story, which gives necessary credence to this film. It’s the type of story that was just made for cinema and the result is a film that is actually quite entertaining to watch, certainly more involving than many other WWII pictures.
The problem here lies in the messy execution. Agnieszka Holland directed the film with a lot of style to spare, but the main issue here stemmed from the approach being too comedic. Some of those humorous sequences did admittedly make me laugh for their sheer weirdness and ridiculousness, but the movie lacked in the dramatic territory as it needed more thematic and emotional resonance to counter all of the goofy comedy on display.
The sex scene was hilarious. All of the moments where the boy was nearly discovered were both intense and amusing. The movie flies by how fun it is and it is difficult not to get swept by its lighthearted nature and in its clever, playful dialogue.
But in that approach the heart was lost. I could not relate nor I could root for the protagonist because we never get to meet him properly or to probe deep inside his mind. None of that psychological insight was added here and it was truly necessary for this type of journey.
Europa Europa also needed a better actor in the main role of Solomon Perel. Marco Hofschneider was simply not good here. He played the character with a never-ending streak of wide-eyed innocence and utter bewilderment, which made it difficult to engage with him on a more personal level. He felt like an idiot, let’s just say that.
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The movie missed to explore what it must have been like for Perel to conceal his identity and how big of a toll it must have taken on his mental health. The role of manipulation and indoctrination in this war also should have been touched upon more. The cinematography is pretty good and so is the editing, but the movie was sorely lacking in thematic depth.
Europa Europa is a German WWII drama that deals with an interesting real life story of a Jewish boy who concealed his identity and joined the Hitler Youth. It is a story that was just made for movies, resulting in a flick that is surprisingly engaging, charming and fun. The humorous sequences were actually quite strong in their inherent weirdness, but the movie lacked psychological insight and thematic depth, especially as it relates to the main character whose journey was fascinating, but whose development was anything but that. The actor who played him was quite mediocre, thus further diminishing audience’s investment in his story.
My Rating – 3.5
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