User reviews

This story is made even more amazing since it is based on fact. The real Solomon Perel has quite a story to tell. I have also read the book, and the movie is a bit factually inaccurate, but it is still tremendously well-made.

Young Solly is played by a beautiful young actor named Marco Hoffschneider. His good looks and charm are part of what get him to convince the Gestapo that he is not a Jew, but an ethnic German. But Solly has much more getting him through this ordeal. His determination and strength of spirit, plus blinding will to live, and perhaps the youthful exuberance of being able to accomplish it, help him to pull off the charade. The young boy speaks several languages, and is able to use this skill to convince Nazi soldiers that he is not Jewish. The soldiers adopt him as a sort of "mascot." Solly is careful not to show his circumcised penis to anyone, including the German girl he falls in love with. Fate is also on his side, since several times when it seemed he might be found out, the hand of a higher power intervenes.

This is an engrossing film, sad and funny. Perhaps Solomon Perel is ashamed that he lived with the enemy to save his life, but, he is alive today to tell his story. The real Solomon Perel makes a brief appearance at the end.

"Europa Europa" (original title "Hitler Youth Soloman") is the story of a Jewish boy who is separated from his family and ends up assuming different identities (including, yes, a Nazi) to stay alive. What makes this film different from all the Holocaust movies I've seen is that it shows the perspective of the other side. This is NOT done in a sympathetic way but in a way that simply shows what was going on amongst the brainwashed youth and how ordinary humans were coerced into doing the most inhuman things.

Our protagonist Soloman (Marco Hofschneider) is played with a wide-eyed innocence, almost like an objective observer, as he navigates the Nazi heirarchy inadvertently making friends wherever he goes. Thus the interesting spin is that the Nazis are shown with more personality than the stone-faced butchers we've come to expect from Holocaust flicks. In fact there is very little Jewish persecution and violence shown since most of the story is set behind the ranks where Soloman is fed the same propaganda and brotherhood that the Hitler youth were fed.

The brutality is clear, and as Soloman rises through the ranks he starts to peel away the truth that, no, Jews are not simply being "relocated to Madagascar". In addition he falls for a girl (Julie Delpy) who is a rabid anti-Semite. So the film ends up posing a very interesting point that's applicable to all our lives, regardless of the WW2 context: What do we do if it turns out that our friends & adoptive family turn out to be vile monsters?

I highly recommend this movie even if you're not interested in war flicks. It's more like a coming of age story but set in the most horrifying chapter of human history.

One has to be annoyed with comments that question either the historical verisimilitude or the integrity of this film, whether from the shaky ground of some rigid, illiberal ideological or religious prejudice or from some one-sided version of history. Furthermore, negative ad hominem attacks on someone other than political leaders or other persons who willingly seek out the public eye are reprehensible.

Does this story ring true? It does to me, and if there is even one-tenth as much basis in fact in the life of Salomon Perel as is represented in the film, I am satisfied. Having been to all the places and delved into the culture and history of all the nationalities that comprise its background, I am also convinced that much if not all of the story is correct at a level that goes well beyond whether this or that small factual detail is rooted in what actually happened to the real Perel.

Moreover, "Hitlerjunge Salomon" (better known in English-speaking countries as "Europa, Europa") is a masterful piece of cinema, beautifully produced and directed, and bearing a cachet of authenticity that few cross-cultural films achieve. I can attest to the utterly convincing script and characterization within the German language portion, and the bits in Polish and Russian seem equally strong.

Why is it so difficult to believe that a malleable teenager raised in a cross-cultural environment would be any less rooted in one part of his life than another? Marco Hofschneider captures precisely the right tone as he demonstrates how "Solly" and "Jupp" are two complementary aspects of the same person. Indeed, there are even good Germans and bad Germans, good Poles and bad Poles, etc., etc. throughout the film.

None of this compromises the truth that millions of other Jews did not survive the Holocaust. Nor does it demean their memory to cast a glance or two at this singular exception. The survivors have their stories as do the victims, and to explore the wider spectrum of life that goes on is surely to find hope in the ruins of an otherwise depraved episode in world history.

OK, I saw "Europa, Europa" in the theater for the first time about 7 or 8 years ago. I always thought it was an amazing story about a young Jewish boy-man who survives WW2 masquerading as a Hitler-Jugend. I was moved to tears at the end of the story (but I won't give away how it ends). Anyway comparisons to Schindler's List and other movies are inevitable.

But I was so intrigued by Solomon Perel's story that I checked the book "Europa, Europa" out of the library and read it for myself. Now having read the book, I watched the movie again and I can tell you that many facts and details of Solly's life were changed to make the movie more dramatic and concise. "Europa, Europa" the movie was not in anyway described as a documentary, so you can take the dramatic moments with a grain of salt. They rewrote most of it in the process of making the movie. I don't know if these alterations were done with Perel's knowledge or permission. But he is shown at the end of the film, so he must have known that the movie was being made. All I can say is, the real truth is even more amazing than the fiction. Read the book for yourself and see what I mean!

I reckon 'Europa Europa' to be the best Holocaust feature film ever produced. I have been using this film for many years to teach the Holocaust to British 14-year-olds. They identify with the central character of Saloman Perel, a German-Jewish boy who survives the Holocaust by hiding his identity in ever more difficult circumstances. The film moves at a cracking pace and the music adds to the dramatic tension. A lot of difficult history is made accessible in a very entertaining and often comical way - Nazi and Communist indoctrination of the young, Jews and homosexuals as outsiders in the new Reich, the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the events of the Second World War. We have a great sense of the individual being swept along by the most destructive tide that history has yet unleashed.

The comic relief is a stark contrast to 'Schindler's List', a copy of which was donated by Spielberg to every British high school.The film is too long, slow and dark to appeal to the age group in question and I have not used it since coming across 'Europa Europa'.

Julie Delpy plays the female romantic lead as the delectable Leni, attractive but flawed, a perfect tribute to Nazi teaching methods. On the other hand there is a sympathetic portrayal of Germans who were not Nazis and who were just as much victims as the Jews. The film explores the human complexities which result when an ideology is allowed to mediate personal and social interaction. There is a lot going on in this film at many levels, but none of it detracts from the entertainment value.

Marco Hofschneider portrays Perel as a vulnerable but resourceful human being, a boy who desperately wishes to be normal in abnormal times. The adolescent quest for self-identity and self-assertion is not an easy option for a Jew on the run. This 'enforced self-denial' theme is successfully maintained throughout the film by its autobiographical format. The schizophrenic implications of being both German and Jewish during the Nazi period are well illustrated.

This film has held the attention of hundreds of 14 year-olds, without exception. Although not aimed specifically at this age-group, it strikes a particular chord with adolescents who can identify with the main character. It is a major contribution to making the Holocaust both accessible and entertaining. There should be no conflict of interest here. Just as the recent film 'Downfall' successfully 'humanises' Hitler by displaying the personal charm which he exercised over so many people, so 'Europa Europa' humanises the Holocaust by its concentration on the survival of one human being. This is its chief strength. I have never tired of watching this film.

'The Pianist' is also concerned with the survival of the individual but is a more 'static' and slightly less entertaining film. Its pace is much slower. 'Escape from Sobibor' is an excellent portrayal of how several hundred slave labourers escaped from this death camp and gives a vivid and unrelenting account of the camp system. It provides balance to the notion of Jews as passive victims. Not to be missed. The American TV series 'Holocaust' is good but long. It successfully turned the Holocaust into a soap opera lasting many hours. To my knowledge it and the 2002 film 'Amen.'contain the only re-enactments of how Zyklon-B crystals were tipped into the 'shower-room'. 'Holocaust' also shows gas chamber procedures.

An interesting and moving film about a teen : Marco Holfschneider attempting to conceal his Jew origin throughout WWII . The real Salomon Perel is a young Jewish who escaped the Holocaust by passing for a Communist at Russian orphanage , where he learns to be a fervert young Stalinist and subsequently a German person at an elite , Nazi-run Academy. Eventually he falls for lovely Jew-hating Julie Delpy but by this point the effort of hiding behind so many masks is starting to take its toll , as occurring disturbing edge to Perel's fortunes . In the tradition of Voltaire's Candide and Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird .

An incredible and brooding true story of Salomon Perel . A sad and provoking flick in which we watch actual events of the 30s and 40s , such as : the Kristalnacht , Jewish Ghettos , distribution of Poland between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia after covenant between Rosenberg and Molotov , 1939 Poland invasion , 1941 Russia encroachment in Redbeard Operation , camps of death , the murderous SonderKommandos executing the deadly assignments and 1945 Berlín war . A thrilling and twisted movie in which our starring suffers several misfortunes and borderline-absurdist happenings. The tale is at times so absurd that it could have made a grotesque historical burlesque of the Gunter Grass' Tin Drum variety . Such a sharp evocation of the era would have deserved an Oscar , but it wouldn't submit for the Academy Awards . Stars Marco Holfschneider who gives a sympathetic acting as the young suffering lots of distresses , unfortunes and pains , along the way he gets away from Nazi Holocaust by passing for a fervent Nazi at an elitist Academy . And a mostly unknown cast with exception for Hanns Zischler as a German captain and Julie Delpy as a fanatic Nazi girl , all of them give nice interpretations .

It was shot in various languages, in German and Russian with English subtitles . It contains a sensitive and enjoyable musical score by Zbigniew Preisner, including catching leitmotif . As well as atmospheric cinematography , though a perfect remastering being extremely necessary .This thought-provoking and brooding motion picture was compellingly directed by Agnieszka Holland . This prestigious director has made good films , outstanding the following ones : "Copying Beethoven , Julie walking Home , Washington Square, Total Eclipse , The Secret Garden , Olivier Olivier , To Kill a Priest , A Woman on her Own and Sunday Children" . Rating 7/10 . Better than average . Essential and indispensable seeing for WWII aficionados .

This has absolutely got to be one of the best movies dealing not only with World War II, but also with the Holocaust. It tells a most incredible and almost unbelievable story with so many amazing twists of fate for young Solomon Perel. It is one of the few films that I feel puts a very personal face on what it was like during WW II. If you know German you will find the actual German dialogue to be particularly fascinating, especially the scenes in the elite Hitler Jugend school. The line where he says, "I was very confused..." is the understatement of any film ever made. I consider this film a "MUST SEE" if you are a member of the human race. If you are a student of German or of German history, then it is even more than a "MUST SEE"!

Operating under the assumption that everything in this film really happened, finishing your movie with two events that are both effectively deus ex machinas is dramatically unsatisfying.

Here is a movie dripping in irony. A young German Jew flees to Poland in the late 30s with his family. After Germany and Russia attack, he's separated from his family and taken in at a Soviet orphanage. There, the boy who grew up religious is the one to attack religion the most vociferously. When Hitler breaks his pact with Stalin, the boy is forced to flee the orphanage and gets taken in by a regiment of German soldiers. His features are more German than Jewish, and no one questions his ethnicity. The virulently anti-Semitic captain is so taken with the young man that he offers to adopt him. The young German Jew in hiding is then sent to an elite Hitler Youth school where he's held up as an ethnic ideal by his teacher in front of his class.

A movie so steeped in irony ends up being actually quite funny. In some ways, it reminds me of Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. It's a story of a young boy navigating his way through World War II in unusual ways, oftentimes enjoying himself. Europa Europa, though, has that ironic twist that provides most of the levity through the affair, and the heart of the film at the same time.

For the first hundred minutes or so, the only real problem is that the irony gets laid on a little too thickly. The last major scene where the irony of Solomon's situation is the best of them, which creates an odd experience. We've seen the movie make fun of Nazis four or five times about how dumb they are for holding up a Jew as an Aryan ideal, and then we have the really good scene of the teacher measuring Solomon's face for the class and coming away impressed with his level of Aryanism. If it weren't the last in a series, I think it would have more effect.

In the latter half of the film, while Solomon is in the school, he falls in love with a young girl who's as taken in with Nazism as anyone else. She says that she would cut a Jew's throat if she ever met one. Afraid of what would happen if they actually made love and she saw that he was circumcised, he tries to balance their relationship with modesty, but she rejects that. The movie's single best scene comes after the girl has gotten pregnant by another boy, and Solomon visits her mother. She has no idea what has happened to her daughter. She doesn't recognize her anymore. They both love her and are in pain for different reasons. Solomon began the movie as a German Jew, and for years he had to hide the Jewish aspect. There, in tears in front of the girl's mother, she asks him if he's German.

He replies in the negative. He's not a German. He's a Jew. Germany had been telling him for years that he could not be both German and Jew, and he wanted to be both. In some ways, he wanted to be German more than Jewish. After his rejection, Solomon realizes that he can't be anything other than a Jew. It's a sad scene because he has to reject a part of him that has been a part of him for his whole life.

Then we get to the final few moments of the film, and it falls apart dramatically. The war is coming to an end, and Germany's beginning to lose. There are efforts to get these boys and girls ready for the front lines, and the authorities must ensure the proper paperwork is in order beforehand. A local police officer calls Solomon in and asks for his Aryan Papers, which Solomon insists are in another city. Well, they'll just have to get them. Since they don't actually exist, Solomon knows that he's days from being found out. And then bombs fall on the office with the police officer after Solomon walks out. The scene itself plays in a humorous fashion which helps blunt the fact that we were just introduced to a dramatic obstacle only to have it blown away by an unrelated dramatic element seconds later. And then the Russians show up. Solomon is considered a spy since he claims to be a Jew, looks German, and hasn't suffered in a concentration camp. A Russian soldier hands a gun to a concentration camp survivor and tells him to shoot Solomon, but just as the bullet is to leave the gun, we hear a voice. It is Solomon's brother. So, again, for the second time in about five minutes, we have a dramatic obstacle introduced and then resolved by an unrelated dramatic element. It becomes silly at that point.

Still, the movie as a whole is very much worth it. I really liked it, and the defense that "It actually happened that way" (assuming it did), doesn't alleviate the fact that the ending ends up silly.

I have seen many foreign films but Europa Europa ranks really high.

It is the real-life story of a young Jewish man who escapes persecution from the Nazis by masquerading as one. He soon wins the minds and hearts of the Germans he serves with. Some discover his true ethnicity but still help him since he is so likable. He even wins the hearts of some women who fall hard for the likable Josef Peters( the name he takes to pass as a non-Jew Aryan) He becomes so well liked that even his commander wants to adopt him .He goes on to excel in a school for the Hitler Youth and again becomes popular among both his fellow students and teachers. He goes to great lengths to pass as a non-Jew , and many of his methods to achieve that end truly are unorthodox.

The beautiful Julie Delpy plays a young German girl who's taken by this young man. She however is a fanatical Nazi and the relationship takes on a life of it's own.

This film is a must see for those of us who are unrepentant movie buffs.

Very watchable, Europa, Europa is purportedly based on a true story. Our little hero is a young German Jew who survives the troubled period of WW2 by pretending to be a Communist and later a Nazi Youth. His misadventures are interesting to watch and that period of history is always fascinating.

I think that because of her Polish background, the director was better able to capture the scenes involving the Russian period. It is when he moves over to the German side that the film gets a little unrealistic. Salomon's fascist schooling experience would lead one to believe that the entire German Army had nothing better to do than to impart training on killing Jews. That at a time when they were losing the war! A bit biased. When Salomon tries to surrender to the Russians, the entire German Armies attention suddenly turns to him. They are more interested in a defector than in fighting the enemy firing bullets at them. Thats a bit fantastic. The only scene where we really empathise with Salomon and feel the horrors of being a Jew are during his tram-ride through the Ghetto. Thats unfortunate for a film trying to give an accurate depiction of that period.

"Europa Europa" is the sort of film that is filled with so many ridiculous coincidences that it can only be true...which it is! Time and time again, a young Jewish man's life is miraculously saved during the Holocaust and this film is his story.

This film begins in Germany just before WWII breaks out. Salomon Perel and his family are Jews and they leave Germany for safety in Poland. Unfortunately, soon the German army invades and takes Poland...and Salomon and his brother run off to avoid the pograms. Here is where the story starts to get interesting. The brothers get separated and Salomon escapes to the Soviet portion of Poland where he is taken into a communist re-education school. He learns to be the ideal communist. But, the Germans are once again on the move and invade--taking the school and its students. Thinking twice, Salomon concocts a crazy story when he's caught--telling them he's a German orphan and he was forced to go to the school. And, because he doesn't appear Jewish and can understand Russian, the Germans keep him as a sort of mascot in their army. Soon, the soldiers adore him! Later, when he tries to defect back to the Russian lines, through a funny coincidence, it appears he's captured a group of Russian soldiers--and he's an even BIGGER hero to Germany! This is only through about half of the film--the coincidences and difficult to believe situations increase tremendously! Overall, this is an excellent production and a truly unique film. There have been so many Holocaust films that it's nice to see one that is so different. It's interesting from start to finish and I strongly recommend it.

By the way, it's a minor problem but the plane Salomon sees up in the sky late in the film is a VERY modern one--made decades after WWII.

I belong to a small film group (12-20 of us) who watched this film last night. I think it is fair to say that most are 40+, liberal with a small 'l', and well educated. The general consensus was that the film was a missed opportunity to tell a fascinating story - Solomon Perel's life is a very interesting one, but ludicrous events have been added to the script which, at times, made the film laughable. To add to the problems of the script, the acting is wooden at best, Marco Hofschneider seems incapable of expressing emotion, and with one or two exceptions the rest of the cast are as bad. One of the group watching is a youngish German girl, who informed us that none of the actors involved in the film are in the first rank of German cinema, which with hindsight seems obvious. To me, the film appeared to have been made on the cheap, with too many short cuts and mistakes: for example, he fires a machine gun at a barn and it bursts into flames - that simply would not happen. And the events added - his brother saving his life at the end for example - are not just not credible, but are so obviously added to the script for effect that they invalidate the real incidents in the film. As for the Nazis, none appears menacing, indeed many appear to be buffoons (which doubtless many were, but not in a jokey way). The comparison with Sophie Scholl - the Final Days is not favourable to this film: that is a film where the fear felt by the protagonists is palpable: this almost seems to have been played for laughs.

Europa, Europa by Agnieszka Holland is a very interesting film. It addresses how far people would go to stay alive. Caught in the hostile warfare, a Jewish boy Solomon Perel realizes that the only way he can survive is by pretending to be one of the Nazis. I was very surprised when I found out that this was a true story. For someone to go through such an horrible experience for so many years and stay normal, its just something I found very fascinating. This movie made me realize that one can never say "I would never do this or that". When you are put in a situation where the only two options you have are survival or death, there is no doubt that most of us would do anything to survive. Even that what Solomon did himself. As I watched this film I thought about the war I have experienced. There were so many people that would have done anything to survive. Actually, there were many instances where people surrendered and joined the other side, just to stay alive or save their family. I know of a girl that got married with a guy (her enemy basically) just to stay alive. What sets this movie apart is that this a true story and the person that is depicted in this film is still alive.

Great movie. Must See.

Hitlerjunge Salomon a.k.a. Europa Europa is probably one of the best films ever made. It delivers hard-to-believe scenes quite often, but knowing it's based on a true story, it just becomes more and more fascinating. It's impossible not to admire the courage and the persistence of Salomon Perel. And a subtle depiction of his real life experiences has given us an adorable movie. I'm personally a fan of Holocaust movies in general, but this one is just special. Fear, anxiety, love, hate, friendship.. Basically, life itself! I really admire Jewish people for enduring this neverending hatred against them; and I admire the Germans who are not afraid to put the magnifying glass on their ancestors' dirty deeds by making such marvellous movies about The Second World War. Nothing much to say about the acting. This is one of the very few movies that the casting is just right, and everyone's the best actor of the movie. Language adaptation could be mentioned as a minor flaw of the movie. There must be enough suitable German, Polish, and Russian actors to play their own countrymen. I wonder why they used foreign actors and thus dubbing instead. In spite of this fact, the movie is simply magnificent, and deserves every kind of praise there is.

10/10

The print that I saw of this film was stunning. Come to think of it, every aspect of this film was well though out, excellently executed, and just as stunning. And just like any other film that deals with the plight of the Jewish people during WWII, this is not a feel good film that will have you wanting to watch it again and again. Very well made and well acted film.

Sorry to see the po-faced comments from many reviewers here. Maybe it's true that Americans just don't do irony - how sad! The fact is, this film is black humour, and it's not political or historical documentary. Whether you want or need to chew over the political and sociological messages is up to you, but as absurdism, the film works really well. That's why the dictators' dance scene was included, and the woman shouting "Mein Führer!" when she reaches orgasm - it's SUPPPOSED to make you laugh. This board seems to have far too many oh-so-serious comments about this film, as though the fate of Germans, Central Europeans, Communists, Judaism, teenagers and pretty well everyone else all rested on how a film is realised creatively. Perhaps any further serious comments should be derided, for fear of obscuring the absurdist subtext: that life is bizarre, and survival can demand adopting patent irrationality.

I was visiting a friend in Tampa. He had this movie in his collection and I watched it while he was at work. This was about 10 years ago, and the movie still moves me. I highly recommend it, and greatly enjoyed it. I am (if the truth be told) more a Sci-Fi fan personally, but this movie caught me and held me. I forgot it was subtitled. I think I was understanding Russian, German and Yiddish by the end of the movie! I know there were some flaws, but they were minor and not really relevant to the theme of the movie. I would like to add this movie to my own limited collection some day, and I do not really collect movies for the most part.

Agnieszka Holland can make far better movies - her later one, In Darkness, is a great example of very fine and precise filmmaking, but here she did several mistakes which belittled and virtually midget-ed a very exciting story and a very thrilling plot. To begin with, the color scheme is very poor and makes you feel a bit wondered - er, why. Then, it is obvious that the film was made in the cheap and all those laughable plane models, highly unrealistic bombing scenes and rather sketchy big crowd frames show the mere lack of money, and that all is too obvious and really turns the attention away from following the plot. There are many clichés and very trite moments that we are sock and tired of, such as the very wooden portrayal of Soviet officers or Nazi officials - nay, Agnes, they were far more cunning and sly, not those caricature dimwits as in the film. Some scenes are just hilarious and totally unnecessary and only make you feel a bit fooled - er, what for. Unnecessary much attention to certain aspects also makes a general feeling a bit skewed and not serious. What is also not good, there are very highly improbable moments here and now - like those of Stalin's son, or barn on fire, or Polizei building bombing, or brotherly meeting - they are all very, very unnatural and utterly strange. Much can be said about rather sloppy performance of quite many actors, but not now. This is a very weak film and none close to Holland's better works