A truly great escape
Added 8/22/2009
Anyone used to recent films about the Holocaust such as " Shindler's List" and " Life is Beautiful" may be disappointed with this film. Firstly it does not have the same production values, the " mise en scene" that distinguishes great directors from the run of the mill.Nor does it have an "A" list cast although both Alan Arkin and Rutger Haur were well known at that time and both give memorable performances. But in some ways this contributes to the power of the film. Based on real events the story centres on the organisers of the mass escape from the Sorbibor Death Camp in Eastern Poland. The film is fast moving and the narrative is one of a conventional action movie. None of the visual horror of a Nazi Death Camp is conveyed. The inmates look relatively well nourished and clean. But then we are reminded that many of these inmates were skilled workers or involved in the " dirty" work of sifting through murdered Jews belongings after they were gassed, maintaining the warehouses of clothes, jewellery and extracted teeth and shaven hair for the "pioneering" German approach to recycling and " greeting" their condemned brethern off the trains by "helping" them with their language. An exercise in deceit and perverse irony by the Nazi Kommandant who sought to keep order by creating an initial sense of " normality" on the arrival of the Jewish cargo from the trains.
Its general knowledge that these prisoners were eventually murdered as well and they too were aware of this.For example there are scenes of prisoners attempting to escape being killed and a spine chilling scene of soon to be executed prisoners being forced to pick a " partner" from the other inmates to die with in collective retribution for their escape attempt.
Before then they would have been kept relativily healthy whilst the were useful. They were allowed to mix freely when not working, and would have had access to tools such as knives and hammers which could easily be made into weopens.This relatively " priveleged" position enabled the prisoners to have the means to escape. In all, out of 600 inmates 300 managed to breach the perimater fence of meticulously executing most of the German and Ukrainian gaurds with their improvised weopens. Several were killed in the attempt by the surviving camp gaurds whilst others were either recaptured and murdered or murdered in transit by farmers etc who wanted whatever valuable they had with them. Others just simply disappeared and were never seen again. However this film was put together on the testimony of the several survivors and is a tribute to their bravery, spirit and ingenuity. This is where it differs from a Hollywood interpration. There is no single " saviour" such as in "Shindler's List". It focuses on certain individuals but the escape is seen as a community working together. Jews as several heros, working for the collective good for all and not as passive victims. It is all the better film for that, and is mirrored in the excellent ensemble acting of the American, British and trans-European cast.
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Effective enough
Added 6/27/2009
The Bottom Line:
Escape From Sobibor is inexpertly made and marred by a "wide world of sports" style narrator who threatens to turn the Holocaust into the game of the week, but it's capably mounted and a decent enough docudrama if you want to learn a little about the uprising in Sobibor concentration camp.
2.5/4
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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great movie
Added 6/18/2009
we had to watch this movie in class. We're studying the Holocaust so we watched this. I'm in 7th grade and we watched this film. It was a great way to show us how the Holocaust happened. Some kids were almost in tears. It was a depressing film, with love and romance in between. I would recommend this movie to teachers. It is a great film to show to your kids studying the Holocaust. You do have to fast-forward through the showers scene (we had to) because it does show nudity. My principal would not allow it, even though my teacher begged. Overall a movie that will touch many people. Escape From Sobibor is a 5 star movie.
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Great movie, okay quality-better than nothing
Added 5/30/2009
I'm a teacher- it's a great movie. The quality of the dvd is okay. It's certainly better than nothing. It's not HD quality. It's certainly worth the $4.00 I paid to have the DVD from some company in CA.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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DVD Purchase: Escape From Sobibor
Added 4/19/2009
Thanks once again for another prompt order. I am pleased with the service you provide. I look forward to shopping again real soon. SHAWN
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A truly great escape
Added 8/22/2009
Anyone used to recent films about the Holocaust such as " Shindler's List" and " Life is Beautiful" may be disappointed with this film. Firstly it does not have the same production values, the " mise en scene" that distinguishes great directors from the run of the mill.Nor does it have an "A" list cast although both Alan Arkin and Rutger Haur were well known at that time and both give memorable performances. But in some ways this contributes to the power of the film. Based on real events the story centres on the organisers of the mass escape from the Sorbibor Death Camp in Eastern Poland. The film is fast moving and the narrative is one of a conventional action movie. None of the visual horror of a Nazi Death Camp is conveyed. The inmates look relatively well nourished and clean. But then we are reminded that many of these inmates were skilled workers or involved in the " dirty" work of sifting through murdered Jews belongings after they were gassed, maintaining the warehouses of clothes, jewellery and extracted teeth and shaven hair for the "pioneering" German approach to recycling and " greeting" their condemned brethern off the trains by "helping" them with their language. An exercise in deceit and perverse irony by the Nazi Kommandant who sought to keep order by creating an initial sense of " normality" on the arrival of the Jewish cargo from the trains.
Its general knowledge that these prisoners were eventually murdered as well and they too were aware of this.For example there are scenes of prisoners attempting to escape being killed and a spine chilling scene of soon to be executed prisoners being forced to pick a " partner" from the other inmates to die with in collective retribution for their escape attempt.
Before then they would have been kept relativily healthy whilst the were useful. They were allowed to mix freely when not working, and would have had access to tools such as knives and hammers which could easily be made into weopens.This relatively " priveleged" position enabled the prisoners to have the means to escape. In all, out of 600 inmates 300 managed to breach the perimater fence of meticulously executing most of the German and Ukrainian gaurds with their improvised weopens. Several were killed in the attempt by the surviving camp gaurds whilst others were either recaptured and murdered or murdered in transit by farmers etc who wanted whatever valuable they had with them. Others just simply disappeared and were never seen again. However this film was put together on the testimony of the several survivors and is a tribute to their bravery, spirit and ingenuity. This is where it differs from a Hollywood interpration. There is no single " saviour" such as in "Shindler's List". It focuses on certain individuals but the escape is seen as a community working together. Jews as several heros, working for the collective good for all and not as passive victims. It is all the better film for that, and is mirrored in the excellent ensemble acting of the American, British and trans-European cast.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Effective enough
Added 6/27/2009
The Bottom Line:
Escape From Sobibor is inexpertly made and marred by a "wide world of sports" style narrator who threatens to turn the Holocaust into the game of the week, but it's capably mounted and a decent enough docudrama if you want to learn a little about the uprising in Sobibor concentration camp.
2.5/4
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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great movie
Added 6/18/2009
we had to watch this movie in class. We're studying the Holocaust so we watched this. I'm in 7th grade and we watched this film. It was a great way to show us how the Holocaust happened. Some kids were almost in tears. It was a depressing film, with love and romance in between. I would recommend this movie to teachers. It is a great film to show to your kids studying the Holocaust. You do have to fast-forward through the showers scene (we had to) because it does show nudity. My principal would not allow it, even though my teacher begged. Overall a movie that will touch many people. Escape From Sobibor is a 5 star movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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