Europa, Europa
| Europa Europa | |
|---|---|
French theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Agnieszka Holland |
| Produced by |
Artur Brauner Margaret Ménégoz |
| Written by |
Agnieszka Holland Paul Hengge |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Zbigniew Preisner |
| Distributed by | Orion (US) |
|
Release date
|
November 14, 1990 (France) |
|
Running time
|
112 minutes |
| Country |
|
| Language |
German Russian Polish Hebrew Yiddish |
| Box office | $5,575,738 (domestic) |
Europa Europa (German: Hitlerjunge Salomon, lit. "Hitler Youth Boy Salomon") is a 1990 film directed by Agnieszka Holland. It is based on the 1989 autobiography of Solomon Perel, a German Jewish boy who escaped the Holocaust by masquerading not just as a non-Jew, but as an elite "Nazi" German. The film stars Marco Hofschneider as Perel; Perel appears briefly as himself in the finale. The film is an international co-production between CCC Film and companies in France and Poland.
The film should not be confused with the 1991 Lars von Trier film Europa, which was initially released as Zentropa in the United States to avoid such a confusion.
Solek (a nickname for Solomon, also called "Solly") and his family live in Nazi Germany. On the eve of Solek's bar mitzvah, Kristallnacht occurs. He escapes, naked, then hiding in a barrel. At night, he calls his acquaintance to bring him clothes from his house. She refuses, but throws him a leather jacket with a swastika band on its arm. He comes back home. His family is together at home, but his sister is killed by Nazis. The father, who was born in Łódź, Poland, decides to go back there.
The Perel family (Solek, his parents, his two brothers, David and Isaak) decides to move to Łódź, central Poland, where the family believes it will be safe. Solly causes criminal damage and the police are called. Living in Łódź, Solly meets Kasia, a cashier working in a cinema. Thanks to her, Solly can go to the cinema without paying for tickets. Later, they establish a romantic relationship. However, less than a year later, World War II begins with Germany invading the western Polish borders. Solly is happy that the criminal case will be forgotten, since the police will have more important issues to solve. Solek's family decides he and his brother should leave for the European East. Solek meets hysterically upset Kasia, but his brother separates them. Isaak and Solek flee, towards the eastern border of Poland, which soon has been invaded by the Soviet Union. (In an ironic scene, as Solek and other Jewish refugees cross a river in a small boat, while a boat carrying Polish refugees fleeing the Soviets passes in the opposite direction, Solomon explains in an internal monologue that the Jews, fearing Nazi persecution, fled toward the Soviets, while the Poles, who feared the Soviets more, fled toward the Germans.) The brothers are separated and Solek is placed in a Soviet orphanage in Grodno with other Polish refugee children.
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