Review of Europa Europa (1990) by Zoran S — 13 Sep 2008

This is a stunning and remarkable film by Agnieszka Holland, which in its historical and existential ironies comes closest to matching her masterful films made in Poland. I first saw the film about 13 years ago, and itâ??s safe to say that the complexities of the film went largely over my head then.

It tells the story of how Salomon Perel survived WWII and subsequently the Holocaust. Perel survives essentially by accident, first finding himself in a Stalinist orphanage and then as a Hitler Youth.

The real power of the film, and what I think elevates it over most WWII and Holocaust films, is that it shows precisely how many people (especially in Poland and Eastern Europe) were trapped between the ideological horrors of Stalinism and Nazism.

This is an insight that cannot be overstated as it directly impacts the survival of Perel. It is also something that will probably not be fully understood by many Western viewers with a limited exposure to the history of Stalinism.

Out of curiosity, I looked through the Siskel and Ebert archive and was shocked to see that Ebert gave the film thumbs down, largely on the grounds that he didnâ??t understand what, if anything, the film was trying to say about Salomonâ??s survival.

To me at least, the film seems to suggest that we survive the horrors of history often by only accident and that in the grand ideological conflicts of history, in the case of WWII (Stalinism vs Nazism), which side we find ourselves on has little to do with our personal choice.

Perhaps Ebert was looking for a more comforting message than that.