Inside Hana's Suitcase

When I heard about this movie, my gut reaction was "another Holocaust movie?" There have been a lot of movies made with Holocaust themes, and a lot of documentaries have tried to give some basic information about the Holocaust. I appreciated that this was different, though. "Inside Hana's Suitcase" really does neither of those things. It takes a very personal look at the Holocaust, largely through the eyes of Auschwitz survivor George Brady, whose parents and sister Hana died in the Holocaust. Director Larry Weinstein uses a variety of approaches in this film. A lot of it is just George talking about his experiences. Some family photographs are used, as well as some recreated scenes of family life using actors, but filmed in black and white - giving the appropriate feel to the scenes. A lot of the movie also revolves around the Holocaust Museum in Tokyo, whose director is the one who actually did get possession of a suitcase that supposedly belonged to Hana Brady when she was taken to Auschwitz. Becoming intrigued by the little girl about whom she knew nothing, she did painstaking research and discovered that George had survived and was living in Toronto. The connection between the two led to a book, and eventually to this movie. There are also many shots of talks with children who've read the book, who speak about what they've learned about Hana.

In a sense, you don't learn a lot about the Holocaust from this, but that doesn't appear to be the movie's point, either. It's not an educational documentary or a historical docudrama. It's the personal story of the Brady family that's most intriguing, and that at times is very moving. George speaks candidly about his guilt at surviving while Hana died, even though he feels he should have been protecting his little sister. But he also comes across as a positive man, who tries to be joyful in spite of his terrible past, and who rebuilt his life and became a happy man with a family of his own. It's the family story that makes this work. I personally thought there was too much emphasis on the Japanese connection (and, although it was mentioned in passing a couple of times, insufficient reflection - since Japan plays a big part in this - on the irony of Japanese schoolchildren saying how important it was to learn of such things in order to prevent them, while knowing that the Japanese government has really never owned up to its own crimes in World War II, and that Japanese textbooks are heavily censored on the subject.) There are also a handful of attempts at limited animation, which I didn't find to be especially well done.

I had the good fortune of attending a screening at which Larry Weinstein and George Brady were both present and answered questions. They're interesting men, and the movie they've made is well worth watching, not from a historical perspective, but from a simple human perspective. 8/10

This is a rather unique account of the Holocaust which really brings into view the benefits of "globalization". A suitcase from Auschwitz ends up at the Holocaust Museum in Tokyo, Japan. The writing on it indicates that its owner was a young girl named Hana Brady from what is now the Czech Republic. Fumiko, who runs the museum, attempts to find out more about Hana. This journey takes her to the Czech Republic where she speaks with curators involved in Holocaust Memorials in that country. Eventually she finds that the brother of Hana is still alive and living in Toronto, Canada.

It's a very heart-rending story and even though it is geared (to some extent) for children, it can and should be viewed by all. There are quotes from children through-out (from Japan, the Czech Republic and Canada) to demonstrate that intolerance eventually can lead to the killing of not only adults, but children as well. It provides a warning and a historical lesson of the abomination of the Nazi regime. It provides truth to the comment that the destruction of people should not just be statistics – but that evil happens to a person, who lived, and had a name. It also shows, through Hana's brother George, that the suffering continues for a life-time.

Sadly, Hana has succeeded well in her aspirations to be a teacher. With almost seventy years gone by, she is now teaching young people around the world about these horrible events.

There were a few aspects that annoyed me. I felt that the dramatic recreations of the past – with an actress playing Hana – distracted from the main story. There was also actual film footage of Hana (I think). The producers should have distinguished between actual footage and recreated footage. My point of view would have been to remove this recreated footage entirely, but then again maybe I need to look at it more from the vantage point of a 10 year old.

Also, and at the risk of sounding politically incorrect and digressing; and with no intent to disparage those wonderful people who run the museum in Tokyo. Isn't it a little ironic that Japan has a Memorial on the Holocaust, when it has done so little (in fact denied) it's war crimes against humanity to the people's of China, the Philippines, Korea, prisoners of war…?!

But criticism aside - even though this is about the Holocaust, it is in many ways, a life affirming story. There is also an excellent short book with the title "Hana's Suitcase".

The story is very moving and really appreciated the global perspectives. Really loved the inclusion of children's voices to help tell the story and speak to the impact.

What I really can't ignore, that I found truly frustrating, was that the Canadian Asian girl got cut off multiple times throughout the movie and nothing was done to recut or allow her to speak. You could see her frustration towards the end as it happened repetitively when it went to her and her classmate. It is a shame, as I think that it detracts from the overall tone and message of the documentary and it was very sorely missed.

Documentaries like this are important to remind everyone about the heartbreak of the Holocaust. It has been over 70 years, yet the lessons we assumed were learned still are there as so many cultures remain unenlightened to human suffering. Watch this and remember.

And, to the woman who gave a bad review because her DVD did not work, please use the brain God gave you and take your silly complaint down. Reviews are to be about the documentary, not about the quality of your DVD. By senselessly posting a bad review, not about the documentary, but about your DVD, you diminish the subject matter of this documentary, which is an affront to those who lost their lives in the Holocaust, as well as the Holocaust survivors, which is much more important than your silly DVD.