Europa Europa (1990) -
*SPOILER WARNING*
After thinking about the movie for a bit, I've decided that the various lucky breaks and coincidences Solek experiences throughout it aren't excused by the film being based on a true story. While I enjoyed the film (I think it's important to state this at the start since my review might not read as positive), I frequently felt the movie lacked the claustrophobic atmosphere necessary for it to be a great film. In spite of how most of it consisted of Solek hiding his identity from numerous people, the film had a more relaxed tone than I expected it would and the direction of it was lacking in suspense in the scenes which needed it the most. The only scene which I felt aced this was when Robert snuck up on Solek in the bath.
It was clear early on that whatever misfortunes would happen to Solek, everything would turn out well for him. When he jumped in a barrel during an air raid, it was clear he made the right choice and would be fine. When he fell out of a boat, it was clear he would've been worse off had he remained in the boat. Whenever a German officer suspected him of being Jewish or asked him to expose himself, I simply asked "I wonder what he'll do to get out of this one" and got my answer fairly soon. Maybe if the film drew out his anxiety during these scenes more, his lucky breaks would've had more teeth, but as they stood, they killed too much narrative momentum in the film. While these scenes have their issues though, the final act was the most contrived. After the Gestapo grew suspicious of him, it seemed like he was finally backed into a corner. Upon leaving the headquarters though, he said "Only a miracle could save me now", a miracle happened literally ten seconds later, and he was no longer in any danger. Finally, after he was about to be executed at the end for being mistaken as a German, his brother suddenly came out of nowhere and saved him at the last second.
I can't speak for the accuracy of this film, but even if everything in it happened in real life the way it was depicted in the film, I don't think that excuses everything. Just because something happens in real life doesn't mean it makes for a compelling story. To paraphrase one of my film buff friends, fiction needs to make sense because real life makes so little sense. Life can sometimes be unfair, on-the-nose, coincidental, have severe cases of good/bad luck, etc., but when you write this into fiction, especially one where the aforementioned lucky breaks and coincidences grow more contrived as the film goes on, this doesn't translate so well since a few conflicts are resolved via dei ex machina.
Anyways, I know it seems like I was underwhelmed by this film, but even though it had potential to be much better, I will state that I found plenty to enjoy about it. Its premise at once explores the anxiety of determining who's trustworthy enough to open up to, it has a fairly large scope given all the places Solek travels and is relocated to, and it's topped with numerous memorable scenes of Solek dressing up and attempting to pose as a German (interestingly enough, a simple scene of him doing a brief jig after attempting to perform a Nazi salute in front of a mirror seem incongruous since he blends in to his surroundings so well). I also generally enjoy stories where characters are forced to betray their principles and morals to survive and Solek's story was no exception to this. The elements of a great film are certainly here and, even though this may not read as a positive review, I did enjoy it a good bit. It's just that the direction of the film prevents it from being anything special.