Europa Europa (1990)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Agnieszka Holland

Writers:

Paul Hengge (additional material)
Agnieszka Holland (writer)

Release Date:

14 November 1990 (France)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

A boy in Nazi Germany, trying to conceal that he is Jewish, joins the Hitler Youth.

Plot Keywords:

Hitler Youth | Jewish | German | Jewish Boy | Nazi

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 6 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Marco Hofschneider	...	Salomon 'Solly' 'Salek' Perel / Josef 'Jupp' Peters
Julie Delpy	...	Leni
René Hofschneider	...	Isaak Perel - Salomons brother
Piotr Kozlowski	...	David Perel - Salomons brother
André Wilms	...	Soldier Robert Kellerman
Ashley Wanninger	...	Gerd
Halina Labonarska	...	Leni's Mother
Klaus Abramowsky	...	Solomon's Father
Michèle Gleizer	...	Solomon's Mother
Marta Sandrowicz	...	Bertha Perel - Salomons sister
Nathalie Schmidt	...	Basia - Cinema cashier
Delphine Forest	...	Inna Moyseyevna
Martin Maria Blau	...	Ulmayer
Andrzej Mastalerz	...	Zenek Dracz
Solomon Perel	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Europa Europe (USA)
Hitlerjunge Salomon (Germany)

Runtime:

112 min | 107 min

Country:

Germany | France | Poland

Language:

German | Russian | Polish | Hebrew

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Germany:12 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Lódz, Poland

Company:

Central Cinema Company Film (CCC)

Trivia:

The film met with a lukewarm reception in its native Germany, with the local media being less than complementary about it. The German Oscar selection committee did not even include it as a submission for that year's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Much embarrassment ensued when it went on to become one of the most successful German films ever released in the US, winning a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: At one point Salomon narrowly misses being killed in an air-raid, which kills his room mate. Rather than show a World War II aircraft, or even a bomber, however, stock footage shows a single C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, which was not even designed until many years after the war.

Quotes:

Inna: [while having sex with Solly] Mein Führer!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)

If you want the truth, read the book

OK, I saw "Europa, Europa" in the theater for the first time about 7 or 8 years ago. I always thought it was an amazing story about a young Jewish boy-man who survives WW2 masquerading as a Hitler-Jugend. I was moved to tears at the end of the story (but I won't give away how it ends). Anyway comparisons to Schindler's List and other movies are inevitable.

But I was so intrigued by Solomon Perel's story that I checked the book "Europa, Europa" out of the library and read it for myself. Now having read the book, I watched the movie again and I can tell you that many facts and details of Solly's life were changed to make the movie more dramatic and concise. "Europa, Europa" the movie was not in anyway described as a documentary, so you can take the dramatic moments with a grain of salt. They rewrote most of it in the process of making the movie. I don't know if these alterations were done with Perel's knowledge or permission. But he is shown at the end of the film, so he must have known that the movie was being made. All I can say is, the real truth is even more amazing than the fiction. Read the book for yourself and see what I mean!