Magda ( Elisabeth Duda), a kind farmer’s wife, finally takes him in and helps him transform into Jurek, a good Christian boy who ostentatiously wears his crucifix and loudly recites his prayers and whose greetings to strangers invariably invoke Jesus.Įventually, the SS come snooping around and Magda sends the boy on his way. After an almost careless-seeming summer hiding out in the forest with other Jewish kids with whom he goes on occasional food raids at nearby farms, Srulik finds himself alone in the depth of winter. Gap-toothed Srulik (played by Andrzej and Kamil Tkacz) manages to leave the Warsaw ghetto unseen and is told by his father to hide but “never forget” he’s a Jew. Jewish festivals and older audiences are natural fits for this proper - and properly academic - work, which will open commercially in Poland in January and in Germany in April. There’s nothing new or revelatory here, though the acting is good and the episodic Franco-German co-production’s $8.1 million budget is all up there on screen. Opening in 1942, the straightforwardly told tale follows Srulik, who’s rebaptized as Jurek so he can pass as a Polish boy orphaned by the war, as he escapes from Warsaw, lives in the forest with other Jewish kids until winter finally sets in and he has to travel from farm to farm, hoping to be taken in and fed by locals in exchange for handiwork. The film is so old-fashioned, it seems to suggest that the director’s mere nationality is so shocking that everything else had to be played as safe as possible. I predict it will garner one of awards from the San Diego Jewish Film Festival.īaron is a professor emeritus of history at San Diego State University.ROME – An intrepid 8-year-old Jewish kid from the Warsaw ghetto has to fend for himself during much of WWII in Run Boy Run (Lauf Junge Lauf), an adaptation of the bestselling children’s book by Israeli author Uri Orlev from German director Pepe Danquart. Like his other novel The Island on Bird Street that was turned into a film, Run Boy Run demonstrates how a child can navigate the shoals of bigotry and persecution. It is adapted from Uri Orlev’s popular book of the same title which is targeted at preteens. Kowalski.ĭespite the gory scene of Janek’s mangled hand, Run Boy Run is a juvenile counterpart to Europa Europa. Other impressive performances are delivered by Elizabeth Duda as Magda and Przemyslaw Sadowski as Mr. I was surprised to learn that Srulik is played by twin brothers Andrzej and Tamil Tkacz who convey both his resourcefulness and vulnerability. The cinematography enhances the compelling story by featuring beautiful panoramas of forests and fields that dwarf Janek and pelt him with snow and rain.
RUN BOY RUN REVIEW MOVIE
The movie is based on the experiences of Srulik Frydman who after the war made Aliyah to Israel where 30 years later he met his sister who presumably had died during the war. A more conscientious surgeon subsequently amputates Janek’s arm, but Janek gradually learns to compensate for his missing limb.
Although it could be saved if treated promptly, a Polish doctor refuses to operate on a Jew. While on the estate of an ethnic German, his hand gets mangled by a grain mill. But those ephemeral episodes quickly end when the Germans resume their search for him. He even briefly can be a child again and play soccer, swim in rivers, and, tend to an injured dog he adopts.
He joins a band of Jewish orphans who hide in the forest and steal food from local farms. No matter how convincing his lies are, his circumcised penis reveals his true identity. Just when Janek feels secure, the Germans stumble upon his location and force him to flee again. They embody Christian compassion for Janek who is attracted to their ethical faith. As he wanders the countryside, he encounters Poles who are indifferent to his plight or hostile to Jews, but other kinder souls like Magda whose husband and son are partisans and the Kowalski family. Keeping that latter pledge is difficult because the only way Srulik can survive is by assuming the Gentile name of Janek and pretending he is a Catholic.
Through flashbacks, the audience learns that his father had him smuggled out of the Warsaw Ghetto after he promised that he would survive and never forget he was Jewish. SAN DIEGO─ Run Boy Run follows the harrowing odyssey of a Polish-Jewish youngster named Srulik who evades betrayal by anti-Semitic Poles and capture by the Germans for three years.