[.ca] Europa Europa (Widescreen Subtitled)

Warning - Not Much Of This Movie Is True:
Mr. Perel's story - that is to say, his autobiography - is interesting and compelling. Regretably, this movie has taken literary license to an unfortunate extreme. "Leni," his girlfriend of sorts at the Hitler Youth School, was never pregnant in real life. At the end of the war, he was actually captured by the Americans in his sleep rather than the dramatic capture by the Russians depicted in the movie. He never captured a Russian position as depicted in the movie or otherwise. And, the homosexual German soldier depicted in the movie didn't merely make a casual pass at Perel - he actually tried to rape Perel on a number of occassions, once by trying to knock him out with chloroform (And yet in the end he did keep Perel's secret and they did become friends, as depicted in the movie). Not only was the movie full of drama that never happened, it also cut out significant events which did occur in real life - for example, Perel confronted his classmates and teachers at the end of the war. A very good movie, yes, but it irks me a great deal that so many "facts" were concocted out of thin air, at the expense of many true compelling events. I therefore do not recommend this movie, and instead recommmend Perel's book, and also the book "Hiding in Plain Sight" by Betty Lauer, which was published in March 2004.

I love this movie !!!:
This movie is excellent! I can't believe more of my friends don't know this movie. It is truly an underrated movie by mainstream people, especially since it's a true story about a holocaust survivor. Even the music score is awesome. The music was written by Zbigniew Preisner, who has the most intense and sad music ever written for a holocaust movie. It's a crime that this movie is underrated by the mainstream. At least it won many film awards by independent film makers back in the early 1990s. There is justice afterall!!!

Mesmerizing story based on true eventsý:
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.

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.

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!