The Holocaust is so shocking that perhaps a more appropriate way to comprehend its import is to focus on the time just before it happened. Cabaret is one such film, however its highly entertaining music detracts attention from the story characters. A better fit is the 1989 movie Reunion, which lavishly illustrates the threat to Germany's beautiful scenery, intellectual heritage, and setting for a rare and idyllic friendship.
In a 1932 German boy's school, Hans meets new student Konradin. Gradually becoming best friends, they admit having no other friends. Yes, as Hans is Jewish and Konradin a Count, others might be deterred from approaching them, but the pair possesses a mutual chemistry that exclusively draws each other.
Exquisite actors convincingly depict the depth of their friendship as they walk to school, camp overnight at breathtaking sites, swim, eat, and endlessly converse on numerous subjects. A fascinating pleasure to behold, you feel as if you are participating with them.
But your participation forces you to experience the negative consequences impacting their lives. Several children, neighbors of Hans, die in a fire. Hans is angry at God and believes that if He exists, He is a monster for letting innocents burn to death. We recognize this as merely a taste of the forthcoming Holocaust.
Friction arises when Hans learns that his friend's parents are supporters of Hitler. Konradin himself is being drawn into the movement though he rationalizes that an exception will be made for good Jews like Hans. Hans knows better. As his parents send him to America, the two friends awkwardly depart company. Thus ironically Hans escapes the Nazis while the fate of his former buddy remains unknown to him. Hans spends decades unable to forget, finally returning to Germany seeking a reunion.
I discovered months ago the 1971 Reunion novella crafted by English painter Fred Uhlman, published in 1977 with Arthur Koestler's introduction. I then acquired the film available only on VHS. Let me quote from the book's opening paragraphs, "I can remember the day and the hour when I first set my eyes on this boy who was to be the source of my greatest happiness and of my greatest despair." The book and movie are clearly complementary.
In both vehicles, the account abruptly ends after Hans determines Konradin's whereabouts. Emotionally, you will find yourself left in a vacuum, literally gasping for air. A haunting epitaph for the Holocaust, a haunting epitaph for the idyllic friendship in Reunion.
In a 1932 German boy's school, Hans meets new student Konradin. Gradually becoming best friends, they admit having no other friends. Yes, as Hans is Jewish and Konradin a Count, others might be deterred from approaching them, but the pair possesses a mutual chemistry that exclusively draws each other.
Exquisite actors convincingly depict the depth of their friendship as they walk to school, camp overnight at breathtaking sites, swim, eat, and endlessly converse on numerous subjects. A fascinating pleasure to behold, you feel as if you are participating with them.
But your participation forces you to experience the negative consequences impacting their lives. Several children, neighbors of Hans, die in a fire. Hans is angry at God and believes that if He exists, He is a monster for letting innocents burn to death. We recognize this as merely a taste of the forthcoming Holocaust.
Friction arises when Hans learns that his friend's parents are supporters of Hitler. Konradin himself is being drawn into the movement though he rationalizes that an exception will be made for good Jews like Hans. Hans knows better. As his parents send him to America, the two friends awkwardly depart company. Thus ironically Hans escapes the Nazis while the fate of his former buddy remains unknown to him. Hans spends decades unable to forget, finally returning to Germany seeking a reunion.
I discovered months ago the 1971 Reunion novella crafted by English painter Fred Uhlman, published in 1977 with Arthur Koestler's introduction. I then acquired the film available only on VHS. Let me quote from the book's opening paragraphs, "I can remember the day and the hour when I first set my eyes on this boy who was to be the source of my greatest happiness and of my greatest despair." The book and movie are clearly complementary.
In both vehicles, the account abruptly ends after Hans determines Konradin's whereabouts. Emotionally, you will find yourself left in a vacuum, literally gasping for air. A haunting epitaph for the Holocaust, a haunting epitaph for the idyllic friendship in Reunion.