Bardejov

I saw this last night. In my opinion, it's right up there with Schindler's List and The Pianist, two of the more famous fiction movies about the Holocaust based on a true story. This story is important to tell.

It's about an attempt at resistance, similar to Escape from Sobibor (another true story).

It's a sad movie, hard to watch, but important. In terms of acting and production, it's top quality.

As with Schindler's List, you may cry watching this film, but you'll also realize the importance of being a witness and memorializing the dead. I found this very movie.

Moreover, I would consider it in very poor taste to criticize this film. It would be like taking issue with a memorial service.

Sub plots were begun, under developed and never brought to conclusion. The viewer is just left wondering why the scenes were included. Another weakness is the lack of period correctness and the obvious lack of research done by the producers. In one early scene, Lewy (Robert Davi) says they "must keep under the radar." Since radar was only just invented and not even called radar yet plus the fact that the Germans didn't find any value in it means that the term "Under the Radar" couldn not have been in the period lexicon. The car that Lewy (Davi) is drving around in hadn't been made until 1949. What is it with this generation of movie producers? Do they think that everything before the year 2000 was all the same and no one will know the difference? That lack of attention to detail is one of the things that causes the movie to fail. It causes the actors to stay in the present instead of getting into the period. Tom Selleck once said of the movie "Quigley Down Under" that they had custom rifles, pistols and saddles specially made to be period correct... saying that the authenticity makes it much easier for the actors to stay in character.

This movie is a Holocaust story in the vein of Schindler's List, only here the protagonist is not a German businessman, but the Rabbi leader in a small Slovakian town. The antagonists are not German Nazis, but Slovakian police and soldiers who have been thrust into the position of working for the Nazi regime. Further, rather than a businessman come to a new place and dealing with new people, almost all of the characters in this movie knew each other all of their lives prior to the events of the film. Bardejov is also a true story, and the plot develops with a depth and authenticity that only a true story well written and aided by impeccable acting and cinematography can deliver.

The plot culminates in a shocking rescue no less incredible than the one in the Steven Spielberg classic, and the historical truth of it all make this movie not only a must-see for the casual movie-goer, but also a valuable contribution to any cinematic library of Judaism, history, and the Holocaust.

As a viewing experience, the relationships among the Jews and the relationships between the Jews and those around them grip the audience, sending viewers through a masterfully developed progression of character interaction. The type of breadth and depth of these characters can only come from real people in a true story as told by eyewitnesses who knew how to bring this powerful event to the screen, as this movie does very well.

I highly recommend Bardejov as a holocaust story unlike any other in that while certain elements of any nazi-era film are going to be familiar to the audience, Bardejov brings everything to you with a different kind of flavoring and emphasis provided by the unique characters and relationships centered around the Jewish community in its environment, rather than being a story about good Germans or kind Americans helping out the Jews. At this time in history, with everything taking place in the news surrounding Israel, the Palestinians, protests, and Jews all over the world, Bardejov is an important film to watch to remind the world of Jewish humanity, nobility, and ingenious perseverence at a time of impossible crisis.

Grab this film and watch it with some friends. It will make for a watch party that will have you talking for hours and thinking for days.