Europa Europa (1990)

Marco Hofschneider and Julie Delpy in Europa Europa

Agnieszka Holland's Europa Europa is a rich and rewarding study of one young man's adventures during World War 2. It tells the true story of Solomon Perel whose desire to save his own skin led him to alternately serve both Communist and Fascist masters. This wrenching drama is leavened with dark humor, a Holland trademark in such disparate projects as Washington Square, The Wire and Spoor, which helps humanize a bleak and unsparing vision. 

Perel is played by Marco Hofschneider, in his film debut, and Holland plays to his strengths by minimizing his amount of dialogue and, instead, focusing on his young body. Because Perel's circumcised member points to his identity as a Jew, Holland's focus on the young actor's body is an apt choice. Perel must assume a number of identities to escape the fate of most of his family and friends, but cannot escape the mark of his bris, a sign of his true cultural identity. Holland features Hofschneider's naked corpus from the outset, as he leaps out of his bath once Nazi toughs start stoning his house. The young man is at once vulnerable, but also a paragon of physical splendor and vitality.

Perel's beauty is an aspect of his salvation. Young or old, female or male, all are drawn to him as would be lovers, friends or parents. A German comrade in arms attempts to cop a feel when Perel is in his bath and Holland plays it for a laugh; as she does his deflowering. Later, when Perel and his young German girlfriend are rolling in long grass in romantic ecstasy, the effect is unsettling. The lass, played by a dubbed Julie Delpy, radiant with the first buds of her flowering beauty, is eager to get it on with her suitor, but he knows that exposing his identity might prove his ruin. When his beloved shows her true nature by spewing racial invective, the gap between her physical allure and spiritual ugliness is jarring.

Holland is generally visually restrained, but, when she pulls out the stops, it has genuine impact. A tracking shot of a Jewish cemetery being dismantled brings home to the viewer the unfettered madness of the Nazis. Europa Europa is a powerhouse that will linger in one's mind.