Out of the Ashes (2003) (TV)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writers (WGA):

Gisella Perl (book)
Anne Meredith (teleplay)

Release Date:

13 April 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Pregnancy | Doctor | Abortion | Holocaust | Concentration Camp

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Christine Lahti	...	Gisella Perl
Beau Bridges	...	Herman Prentiss
Richard Crenna	...	Jake Smith
Bruce Davison	...	Peter Schuman
Jonathan Cake	...	Dr. Mengele
Jolyon Baker	...	Frederick Krauss
Jessica Beitchman	...	Marta Weiss
Oliver Cotton	...	Moshe Perl
Michelle Fine	...	Fanny Perl
Zoie Palmer	...	Didi Goldstein
Maria Ricossa	...	Esther Jacob
Ingrid Veninger	...	Zozia
Emma Wellbelove	...	Young Gisella
Nina Young	...	Irma Griese
Vytautas Rumsas	...	David Perl

Also Known As:

Gisella Perl (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/cruelty and some nudity.

Runtime:

USA:120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | Finland:K-15 (TV rating) (self applied) | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R

Company:

Ardent Productions

Trivia:

Richard Crenna's final acting project.

Melodrama ad nauseam

In "Out of the Ashes", Lahti is out front delivering a typically sterling performance as a gynecologist and Auschwitz survivor who applies for citizenship to the US while reliving the horrors of her WWII experience via flashback before a panel of review not unlike the Spanish Inquisition. This lame flick is melodramatic to the point of the ridiculous with the bad guys being the personification of evil and the good guys being worthy of canonization as saints. If we needed another WWII death camp story, which we don't, this one certainly is not it. A pathetically melodramatic treatment of a serious subject in the guise of a biopic not worthy of further commentary. (C)