User Reviews

"Toyland" is a film that works so brilliantly that it managed to be powerful, thought-provoking and even gut-wrenching than most Hollywood films that are 8 to 10 times longer. With sparse dialogue, director Jochen Alexander Freydank keeps us hooked throughout this superb short film.

Set during the Holocaust, a German woman frantically searches for her son, who might have decided to accompany his Jewish neighbors to a Nazi concentration camp because the Jewish family's young son and her son are best friends.

The film is elegantly shot and wonderfully acted. There is more poignancy and true emotion in this film than I have seen in most Hollywood films in recent times.

Director Freydank moves his story along, with us always wondering not only what comes next but how this is going to end. And then comes the denouement: A truly remarkable twist that says much about the human spirit. It is a moment that will break your heart while simultaneously make you smile.

If you have the chance to see this, and the other Oscar-nominated live action shorts, do yourself a favor and watch them. Believe me, it will be time much better spent than, say, on "New In Town" or most any other mainstream Hollywood film.

Today I went with three friends to a special showing of all the films nominated for the 2009 Oscar for Best Live Action Short. Oddly, the four of us were in pretty much agreement about the films. Our pick for best of the nominees was PIG ("Grisen"), though ON THE LINE ("Auf der Strecke") was a very good film and is nearly as deserving of the award. We predicted that TOYLAND ("Spielzeugland"), however, will win the award because it's the sort of the film the Academy tends to like AND because PIG might ruffle some feathers because it is not "politically correct". I'll update this review after the awards are given.

TOYLAND is a film set during the Nazi era. A boy asks his mother about why all his neighbors (all Jews) are disappearing. She explains that everything is okay and that they have gone to "Toyland". Unfortunately, it sounds like such a nice place that the kid hopes to go there, too, and the film begins with him sneaking off with a shipment of Jews to the concentration camps because he wants to visit this magical place.

Much of the film consists of the mother trying to find the boy and eventually the SS officers help her to try to locate the boy. This all ends in a marvelous twist that I won't reveal here, but this twist takes the film from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

A lovely film that will probably win--in part, because the film is about an important subject that the Academy seems to like, the Holocaust (and highly reminiscent of LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL), and in part because it is so exceptionally well-crafted from start to finish. My only reservation is that the print was awfully dark--practically everything looked black at times. Perhaps it was just a bad print.

UPDATE: It's official, TOYLAND is the winner. This didn't surprise me at all and it was well deserving of the award, though I was still pulling for PIG to take the honors.

Usually, I don't watch short films but after seeing and reviewing about five feature films in three days, I needed to see a movie that could capture a gamut of emotions in few minutes and that is precisely what 'Toyland' does. It takes one of the most crucial periods in history - the holocaust and brings it down to the lives of two families and an incident that changes the course of their lives in the dark period.

A mother finds her son Heinrich missing one day, after she tells him the previous day that their neighbors are moving to Toyland. The prospect of going to a place filled with toys titillates Heinrich and he gets too eager to go with the neighbors, which includes his best friend Paul. The first seven minutes oscillate between flashbacks of Heinrich's excitement and the mother's frantic search. This leads to an end that is so poignant, gripping, chilling and fascinating that it brought tears to my eyes. The fourteen minute film so effortlessly manages to touch the audiences that it truly deserves all the accolades that it has got. 8 out of 10.

the films about Shoah are many. but "Toyland" is different. for its intensity. for its switch. for the exploration of an explanation and a fundamental decision. and, sure, for something who remains out of words. because it is a film about hope. and about miracle in a form who seems so easy to define than remains deep way impressive. a mother, her son, theirs neighbors.and a piano. nothing more but enough for a so intense film, profound provocative, than it becomes a serious challenge for the viewer. to become himself. in better version.

I just saw Spielzeugland and recognized the whole plot almost from the beginning. I am positive I've seen it before, or read it. Does anyone else remember it? There was a Q&A with the writer and he didn't mention getting the plot from somewhere else. Anyone out there know this story from a maybe book or a t.v. show? That said, I did find it very moving and upsetting. The actress who played the mother did a fine job, as did the piano teacher. People may say holocaust-themed movies are overdone, but I don't think so; that era needs to be kept alive in peoples' minds so that it doesn't fade into oblivion as the final survivors die out. It's hard to believe the entire film is only l4 minutes long.

Toyland is a German short film, directed by Jochen Alexander Freydank. The film relates with the Holocaust. It depicts the fates of non-Jewish family and Jewish family.

There are some good points in the film. First of all, I was very attracted by the first scene. The film begins with the images of chain like a four-handed performance on the piano and a spiral staircase. These images not only give the audience a feeling of immersion, but also cause them uneasiness.

Second, the audience is not the only one to use their imagination. The characters in the film are less able to predict their own destiny, compared to other movies. Children constantly imagine the truth of Toyland. On the other hand, adults work hard to help their children. Therefore, some people find it hard to watch the film.

To conclude, it is worth seeing. Also, it is a good movie to know the gruesomeness of the Holocaust.

Toyland is a short drama film. It was made in Germany in 2007. This won an Oscar in 2009. The setting is the German Nazi regime. A mother finds her son is not in their house when his Jewish friend is taken away in the morning. The mother is looking for him because she remembers she says the concentration camp is the Toyland to her son when she is asked about the concentration camp and the son wants to go there. She goes to search the train which conveys Jewish people to the concentration camp and she only finds the friend's family. When she encounters the family, she takes action. I think the story makes the audience confused. However, I feel the complex order of the story is a charm of the film because I was surprised by the revealed facts as the story goes on. Moreover, the last scene is moving. I think the audience may want to watch this film again and again.

'Toyland' is a short film. The main characters are Heinrich, a German, and David, a German Jew, who are best friends. One day, however, David's family is taken away to a camp. Heinrich's mother, unable to tell him the truth, lies to him that they are going to 'Toyland.' . But her words have the opposite effect, and Heinrich wishes that he could go, too. The next day, he follows David out of his mother's sight. On the morning of David family's removal, Marianne is upset to find that Heinrich is not there. She thinks that Heinrich must have been taken away with the family. She runs to the train station and begs the soldiers to let her son go home. Many things happen after this. This film is 13 minutes long. A lot happens in that short time. And this film is about the Holocaust, the genocide of the Jews. So this film is very much worth seeing.

The storyline is exciting despite the short duration of movie. The intrigue is remained until the last minute. The atmosphere of WWII is clearly conveyed. It is really hard to predict from the beginning how the movie would end.

I didn't expect to be so intensely moved by a short film of merely 12-minute runtime. I knew that it'd be sad just by judging from its description, but the way it achieved to capture the entire story in such a short duration was surely remarkable.

I also admired how it used flashbacks to cement the relationship of the boys while also carrying the plot forward by showing the moments leading up to the present at appropriate intervals.

The scenes of the present benefited from the cinematography and cold colours which helped in building an air of urgency and desperation. On the other hand, the flashbacks employed warmer colours and more relaxed images while also offering an air of the silence before the storm.

Certain scenes of interaction between the characters definitely stood out, notably those involving Henrich and David. Speaking of the kids, I particularly loved their friendship, and it easily made the entire thing even more emotionally touching.

There is a twist towards the end, which thoroughly surprised me because I was too involved in the story.

Also, while others may find the music a little too on the nose, I really did like it.

Overall, I really liked the short, and it drove me to tears.

"Toyland" is heavy but has the power to tell the audience about racism in a way that is easy to understand. This movie was made in 2007.

A German boy, Heinrich, and a Jewish boy, David, are best friends. One day, David is taken to a concentration camp, but Heinrich's mother can't explain the truth to Heinrich and lies to him. However, because of the lie, Heinrich goes missing and his mother makes a big decision.

I think this film is a very realistic story. This film sometimes made me think, and I think this film will help those who have no knowledge of the Jewish persecution to learn more about it.

This is a great short film that include a lot in 14 minutes, and is well worth watching.

Potently seen through the eyes of two young boys, the rise of Nazi-ism is depicted as "David" (Tamay Bulut Ozvatan), a Jew, and his family must make preparations for a trip whilst the mother of the other (Julia Jäger) must make preparations to lie to her son about just what is going on in their country now. They boys have no appreciation of the dangers and so armed with his bear "Little Paul" the two insist on travelling together. Can his mother track down "Heinrich" (Cedric Eich) before it's too late? It's chilling, this film - not just the effects of the snow on the ground but these ghastly yellow stars stitched like targets upon the clothing of the unwilling travellers. The boys think they are going to "Toyland".... Scary stuff well presented with an effective minimum of dialogue.