An interesting and moving film about a teen : Marco Holfschneider attempting to conceal his Jew origin throughout WWII . The real Salomon Perel is a young Jewish who escaped the Holocaust by passing for a Communist at Russian orphanage , where he learns to be a fervert young Stalinist and subsequently a German person at an elite , Nazi-run Academy. Eventually he falls for lovely Jew-hating Julie Delpy but by this point the effort of hiding behind so many masks is starting to take its toll , as occurring disturbing edge to Perel's fortunes . In the tradition of Voltaire's Candide and Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird .

An incredible and brooding true story of Salomon Perel . A sad and provoking flick in which we watch actual events of the 30s and 40s , such as : the Kristalnacht , Jewish Ghettos , distribution of Poland between Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia after covenant between Rosenberg and Molotov , 1939 Poland invasion , 1941 Russia encroachment in Redbeard Operation , camps of death , the murderous SonderKommandos executing the deadly assignments and 1945 Berlín war . A thrilling and twisted movie in which our starring suffers several misfortunes and borderline-absurdist happenings. The tale is at times so absurd that it could have made a grotesque historical burlesque of the Gunter Grass' Tin Drum variety . Such a sharp evocation of the era would have deserved an Oscar , but it wouldn't submit for the Academy Awards . Stars Marco Holfschneider who gives a sympathetic acting as the young suffering lots of distresses , unfortunes and pains , along the way he gets away from Nazi Holocaust by passing for a fervent Nazi at an elitist Academy . And a mostly unknown cast with exception for Hanns Zischler as a German captain and Julie Delpy as a fanatic Nazi girl , all of them give nice interpretations .

It was shot in various languages, in German and Russian with English subtitles . It contains a sensitive and enjoyable musical score by Zbigniew Preisner, including catching leitmotif . As well as atmospheric cinematography , though a perfect remastering being extremely necessary .This thought-provoking and brooding motion picture was compellingly directed by Agnieszka Holland . This prestigious director has made good films , outstanding the following ones : "Copying Beethoven , Julie walking Home , Washington Square, Total Eclipse , The Secret Garden , Olivier Olivier , To Kill a Priest , A Woman on her Own and Sunday Children" . Rating 7/10 . Better than average . Essential and indispensable seeing for WWII aficionados .

"Europa Europa" is the sort of film that is filled with so many ridiculous coincidences that it can only be true...which it is! Time and time again, a young Jewish man's life is miraculously saved during the Holocaust and this film is his story.

This film begins in Germany just before WWII breaks out. Salomon Perel and his family are Jews and they leave Germany for safety in Poland. Unfortunately, soon the German army invades and takes Poland...and Salomon and his brother run off to avoid the pograms. Here is where the story starts to get interesting. The brothers get separated and Salomon escapes to the Soviet portion of Poland where he is taken into a communist re-education school. He learns to be the ideal communist. But, the Germans are once again on the move and invade--taking the school and its students. Thinking twice, Salomon concocts a crazy story when he's caught--telling them he's a German orphan and he was forced to go to the school. And, because he doesn't appear Jewish and can understand Russian, the Germans keep him as a sort of mascot in their army. Soon, the soldiers adore him! Later, when he tries to defect back to the Russian lines, through a funny coincidence, it appears he's captured a group of Russian soldiers--and he's an even BIGGER hero to Germany! This is only through about half of the film--the coincidences and difficult to believe situations increase tremendously! Overall, this is an excellent production and a truly unique film. There have been so many Holocaust films that it's nice to see one that is so different. It's interesting from start to finish and I strongly recommend it.

By the way, it's a minor problem but the plane Salomon sees up in the sky late in the film is a VERY modern one--made decades after WWII.

Solomon "Solek" Perel is a Jewish teenager living in Nazi Germany. His father owns a shoe store. His sister is killed by Nazi youths. His family flees to Poland and then Germany invades. Solek and his older brother are sent to the east. They get separated and Solek becomes Sally placed in a Bolshevik orphanage. He is further caught up in the war when Germany invades the Soviet Union. He hides his Jewish identity and becomes trusted translator Joseph Peters for a squad of German soldiers. He accidentally becomes a war hero and gets adopted by a Nazi commander. He is sent back to Germany to attend a Hitler Youth school where he falls in love with Leni (Julie Delpy).

In a standard Hollywood movie, this would start with a Based on a True Story. There is a disjointed flow to the constant jumping from one giant WWII event to another. It has its surreal convenient moments but its true story keeps trying to ground it. There are intriguing moments of history like the Polish refugees going in opposite directions as the country faces invasion from both sides. Sometimes, the movie pushes the melodrama too hard like the hanging of the kids. There, the music cue is too blatant. Mostly, I am conflicted with Marco Hofschneider. His character is around 16 and the actor is 20. There is a notable difference. He comes off as being too old for the character which is very important in this case. The characters acts all over the place. Sometimes, he's too young. His smirk belies a blank persona. The character often hides his true feelings which is a difficult thing to convey. It's a hard character to get right so it's difficult to blame the actor. One thing is certain. He's a dumb azz for falling for Leni even if it's Julie Delpy. It's already too hard to hide his dick. Sometimes, that's how you know it's a true story. The character is too dumb to be fake.