Escape from Sobibor (1987) (TV)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Jack Gold

Writers:

Thomas 'Toivi' Blatt (manuscript "From the Ashes of Sobibor")
Richard Rashke (book)

Release Date:

12 April 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller | War

Plot:

During WWII, the death camp at Treblinka had an escape, causing the Commandant at a similar camp in...

Plot Keywords:

Escape | Nazi | Jew | German | WWII

Awards:

Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Alan Arkin	...	Leon Feldhendler
Joanna Pacula	...	Luka
Rutger Hauer	...	Alexander 'Sasha' Pechersky
Hartmut Becker	...	Sgt. Gustav Wagner
Jack Shepherd	...	Itzhak Lichtman
Emil Wolk	...	Samuel
Simon Gregor	...	Stanislaw 'Shlomo' Szmajzner
Linal Haft	...	Oberkapo Porchek
Jason Norman	...	Thomas 'Toivi' Blatt
Robert Gwilym	...	Chaim Engel
Eli Nathenson	...	Moses Szmajzner
Kurt Raab	...	Sgt. Frenzel
Eric P. Caspar	...	Capt. Franz Reichleitner
Hugo Bower	...	Sgt. Beckmann
Klaus Grünberg	...	Sgt. Bauer (as Klaus Grunberg)

Runtime:

143 min | 120 min (DVD version)

Country:

UK | Yugoslavia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Avala, Yugoslavia

Company:

Zenith Entertainment

Goofs:

Continuity: The head SS-Sergeant is referred to as a "Hauptscharführer," however he wears the insignia of a "Sturmscharführer" which is one rank higher.

Quotes:

Leon Feldhendler: Did you know that tomorrow is the beginning of Sukkot?
Lt. "Sasha" Pechersky: Yes. 'Tis a Holy Day.
Leon Feldhendler: I forgot. And my father was a rabbi.
Lt. "Sasha" Pechersky: They kill on Holy Days. Why not the other way around? God will forgive.
Leon Feldhendler: There are those here who are wondering if we can forgive God.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Pianist (2002)

A fantastic movie that tells a true story of bravery and determination during World War II

This movie is fantastic, no doubt about it. It takes place in the Sobibor death camp in Poland during World War II, where Jews are sent to be killed but where also there are over 600 Jews and Russian POWs working. It shows many of the hardships that Jews faced during this time and the brutality of the German SS officers. Alan Arkin is a Jew in working in the camp who is somewhat of a leader among the prisoners there, and with trains of people coming into the camp every day, a train carrying several Russian POWs comes (all Jewish, that is why they were sent there instead of a regular POW camp) and Rutger Hauer is the leader among them. Arkin and Hauer soon work together among other prisoners to devise a way to escape, originally planning an escape that involved only a dozen men but they eventually decided it had to be the entire camp population of 600, or else the 600 people left there would most likely be slaughtered. The film is full of suspense and based on a true story that happened at Sobibor, which was the biggest camp escape during the war. This movie is in some parts shocking when, like Schindler's List and other Holocaust films, it shows naked women and children being led into the gas chambers and a woman being executed simply for bringing her baby into the camp. This movie is a great film and I am surprised that it was only a made-for-TV movie, for it has the true qualities of a theater movie and it also has a great musical soundtrack. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or comments.