Europa, Europa

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay, writer/director Agnieska Holland's Europa, Europa is based on the true story of Solomon Perel, a Jewish boy who escaped from pre-WWII Germany and stayed alive by using his wits. Following Nazi raids on Jewish businesses in Germany, "Solly" (played by Marco Hofschneider) and his brother head east, and are separated. Solly ends up in Russia, where he becomes a model Leninist student. When the Germans invade, Solly adopts the name of Josef Peters, and passes himself off as a German orphan. Now a young German soldier, Solly sees firsthand the horrors of war and racial discrimination. Europa, Europa is reminiscent of Little Big Man, a movie with a similar plot device (Dustin Hoffman shifted from white man to Cheyenne and back again as the situation dictated). Nicely filmed, with excellent performances all around, Europa, Europa does walk a fine line between drama and humor, and for some Jewish viewers the boldness of the film's humor may seem inappropriate: not only does Solly have elaborate dream sequences featuring Hitler and Stalin in semi-comic situations, the running joke/plot device throughout the film is Solly's circumcised state and his attempts to hide same. Still, Europa, Europa is a good, and very accessible, coming-of-age story in the "other" Europe. Recommended. (R. Pitman) [Blu-ray/DVD Review—July 16, 2019—Criterion, 112 min., R, DVD: $29.99, Blu-ray: $39.99—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1990’s Europa Europa features an excellent transfer with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include audio commentary by director Agnieszka Holland, and interviews with star Marco Hofschneider (21 min.), film subject Salomon 'Sally' Perel (21 min.), and Holland (16 min.), as well as a visual essay by film scholar Annette Insdorf (14 min.), and an essay by film critic Amy Taubin. Bottom line: this fine foreign drama makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]