Product Description

This "incredible, true story" (Los Angeles Times) is at once "eye-opening, harrowing and humorous" (Leonard Maltin) as it recounts the severe actions a young boy must take in order to survive the Holocaust. Based on the autobiography of Solomon Perel, a young German Jew, the film "bounds from one jaw-dropping episode to the next" (The New Yorker) and puts you in the middle of war-torn Europe where ingenuity, timing and luck are the key to survival. Separated from his family at the age of thirteen, Solly (Marco Hofschneider) takes on various identities to hide his Jewishheritage. First passing himself off as an orphan and later as one of the "Hitler Youth," Solly carries on his charade, hoping desperately to keep his identity hidden and make it through the war alive.

Product Details

• Released on: 2004-09-07
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC, Import
• Original language: German
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 112 minutes

Review
Films such as Judgment at Nuremberg have chronicled the crisis of conscience that afflicted ordinary Germans after World War II; Europa, Europa, however, examines that crisis as it was brewing, from the viewpoint of a man who embodied the nation's schisms in particularly dramatic fashion. Polish director Agnieszka Holland exhibits a lightness of touch that befits the film's fact-based premise. Solomon Perel's life was so extraordinary that it speaks for itself. In the establishing scenes of Perel's prewar youth, newcomer Marco Hofschneider embodies all the gawky charm of carefree boyhood. As the film charts his character's masquerade as first a good little Communist, then a brave Nazi war hero, it paints his struggles as merely the conflicted loyalties and unavoidable compromises of adolescence given terrible new significance by history. With few exceptions, wartime atrocities are depicted matter-of-factly, leaving the audience to make its own judgment about Perel and the dumb luck and quick thinking that allowed him to survive, even flourish. From Andr� Wilms as the gay actor-turned-Nazi officer who nurtures young Perel to the superb Julie Delpy as the Aryan girl whose willfulness and pique are elevated to manifest destiny under Hitler's rule, the large international cast brings to life the varied personal stories that are sometimes missing from the history books. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

On the DVD
ccOriginal theatrical trailer
Original German/Russian: Mono
French: Mono
English, French, & Spanish-language subtitles

Synopsis
This drama was based on the true story of a young German Jew who survived the Holocaust by falling in with the Nazis. Solomon Perel (Marco Hofschneider) is the son of a Jewish shoe salesman coming of age in Germany during the rise of Adolf Hitler. In 1938, a group of Nazis attack Solomon's family home; his sister is killed, and 13-year-old Solomon flees to Poland. Solomon winds up in an orphanage operated by Stalinist forces; when German forces storm Poland, Solomon's fluent German allows him to join the Nazis as a translator, posing as Josef Peters, an ethnic German. In time, "Peters" is made a member of the elite Hitler Youth, but since Solomon is circumcised, he can be easily revealed as a Jew, and he lives in constant fear that his secret will be discovered. Solomon's close calls include an attempted seduction by Robert Kellerman (Andr� Wilms), a homosexual officer, and his relationship with Leni (Julie Delpy), a beautiful but violently anti-Semitic woman who wants to bear his child for the glory of the master race. Europa, Europa (shown in Europe as Hitlerjunge Salomon) also features the real Solomon Perel, who appears briefly as himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

An Amazing Story of Survival
I purchased this dvd after some reviews tweaked my interest and I was not disappointed. This movie has it all: drama, action, humour, love, etc. To top it off, the film is based on a true story. A Jewish boy must pass himself off as a "true" German, and more, in order to avoid the concentration camps and survive the war.

I would have loved to have seen an interview with the real Solomen Perel included with the Special Features. Unfortunately, it only contains the original theatrical trailer but the movie stands on its on!

Excellent movie!
This beautifully shot movie explores the life of a young Jewish boy (Solomon Perel) who takes on different roles in young life to escape both the prison camps and death during the 1940's. Escaping from Germany to Poland, then on to Russia, learning Russian, then being captured by Germans and becoming a hero to the Germany Army, then going back to the Russians to final freedom - whew! This is a dizzying tale of poor Solomon, who in trying to hide is true identity as a Jew, becomes multiple characters to stay alive. The music score is beautiful, as is the scenery. The character development is excellent, and the acting is superb. I know you will thoroughly enjoy this movie on the struggle for freedom and independence of this young Jewish lad.

Mesmerizing story based on true events�
Europa Europa is set in the year before and during the World War II in Europe. The story is based on the true events of the young boy, Salomon "Solly" Perel (Marco Hofschneider), son of a shopkeeper in Poland who experienced brutality through the eye of the enemy as he had to disguise himself in order to survive as his heritage was Jewish. Initially Solly escapes the German's wearing a Nazi leather coat with the Swastika on the arm, which becomes his first disguise or act in order to survive. This continues throughout the film where Solly must hide his true identity, which deals with his circumcision, culture, and background. The constant acting by Solly leads him to begin to feel unsure about his true identity as he tries to assimilate into Nazi-German culture and reject himself. At one point Solly's feelings towards his Jewish background are close to hatred as he also struggles with the natural dilemmas of a teenager such as identity and love. Europa Europa is a dark coming of age film depicting the terrible destiny of Solly as he grows up as a pro-Nazi in order to survive and have self-discovery while hiding himself from himself. When the audience stretches their legs during the end credits there will be much room for pondering and contemplation as Europa Europa leaves the viewers with an excellent cinematic experience.