This is the film that Biden chose to screen at the White House on Holocaust Remembrance Day - and it is boring and infuriating

The star-studded "Survivor" (including one from Israel) tells the story of Harry Haft, who managed to survive Auschwitz thanks to his boxing skills.

The result is dull and outrageous, but it is understandable why Biden chose to screen it in the White House on Holocaust Remembrance Day

Avner Shavit

28/04/2022

Thursday, 28 April 2022, 21:02 Updated: 22:02

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Trailer for the movie "The Survivor" (United King)

No less than seven new Holocaust films were shown this week at special pre-premieres in theaters in the country.

One of them, "Where's Anne Frank" by Ari Pullman, will be widely circulated next week.

Two, "Game of Kings" and "Survivor" are available now.

In America, the movie skipped the theaters and went live on HBO (where I watched it).

In the country, it is available exclusively on the big screen.

Of the seven mentioned, "The Survivor stands as a particularly high-profile film. Not only does it stand under HBO's honorable umbrella, but it was directed by Barry Levinson. For the sake of this drama, he recruited an impressive cast with hot names like Ben Foster, Vicky Creeps and even Dr. Zuzosbecki, who actually appears in only one scene - but is responsible for the film's dramatic climax.

And perhaps most impressive of all - this is the film that Joe Biden chose to screen at the Presidential Residence on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which also made "The Survivor" the first film that the president screened during his tenure (do not ask which films Trump screened).

In short, this is an event.

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To the full article

From Auschwitz to the White House.

From "The Survivor" (Photo: United King)

Like many Holocaust films, "The Survivor" is based on a story that unfortunately really was - the story of Harry Haft, a sturdy Jew who the Nazis turned into a kind of gladiator for their entertainment.

He boxed in front of other prisoners, and they amused themselves with the sadism characteristic of them from the play, and spared his life in return.

Subsequently, the Holocaust survivor emigrated to the United States, where he also developed a brief boxing career.

His last fight was against none other than Rocky Marciano, who himself used to be at the center of movies.

"The Survivor" actually presents three stories - it is a story about survival in a camp where it was almost impossible to survive;

It is a story about moral ambivalence and the gray area where the inmates in the camps found themselves, while being required to fight other Jews and sometimes even kill them so that they could stay alive;

And it is also and perhaps especially a story about the post-Holocaust universe, in which the survivors were required to build a new life for themselves, while still carrying with them scars that could not be healed.

"The Survivor" manages to touch on a variety of issues relevant to dealing with the Holocaust, but unfortunately also suffers from all the ills that characterize cinema that deals with the subject.

Where do I even begin to enumerate the film's shortcomings?

The sheet is short.

Black and white is "history".

From "The Survivor" (Photo: United King)

Let's start with the plot structure, and the colors.

The film skips between times, and its use of flashbacks is awkward and squeaky.

He describes America of the 1940s in color, but the camps in black and white - probably because since the "Schindler's List", the Hollywood code is that the Holocaust is described as such.

Why?

Because these movies have pedagogical pretensions.

They seek to be a history lesson, and their assumption is that only if we see something in black and white will we believe it is "history."

The problem is that the transitions between the shades are awkward and jarring as well, and the historical reconstructions are all forced and fake.

Also the fact that almost all the actors speak English in some ridiculous European accent does not help.

The film also does a good job of reproducing the most clichéd cliché of Holocaust films - the good German character.

This time it is represented by a handsome and hospitable Nazi officer, who knows that the Third Reich is about to lose the war, and gives the Jew enough room for maneuver to survive.

In the end, the Jew in the film kills more people than the Nazi.

Forgiving Barry Levinson for his rights, he directs the film with a heavy hand.

Foster, Creeps and also other stars, for example Danny De Vito, seem to have not particularly connected to their roles;

And as a result there is no element that transcends.

Despite the theme, "The Survivor" fails to sweep, excite or interest.

Let’s be direct: this drama is just boring.

Pity the guests of Biden who must have pretended that this "important film" interested them.

A knockout of boredom.

From "The Survivor" (Photo: United King)

If we still try to analyze the film, one can understand what Biden found in it.

"The Survivor" presents America as a safe haven, where Jews and other minorities have found the ultimate home.

It almost completely ignores the existence of Israel, the manifestation of anti-Semitism and other facts that may contradict this attitude.

In fact, more than a "Holocaust film," it is a film about the success story of American Jewry, their integration into the new homeland and its assimilation.

Going back to the starting point, there is now more Hollywood content on Holocaust remembrance than ever before.

The second season of "Russian Doll" on Netflix also deals with the subject, and it is also horrible and terrible.

Quantity does not guarantee quality, which is all the more true of the "survivor".

Is this what HBO chose to present?

Is this what Biden chose to project?

With their permission, we will not respond to it in English but in Yiddish, a language that occasionally pops up throughout the film - Nu Shuin.

• culture

• Theater

• Movie review

Tags

• Dr. Zuzovsky

• Ben Foster

• Holocaust and Heroism Day

• Joe Biden

• HBO