Wohin und zurück - Teil 1: An uns glaubt Gott nicht mehr - Ferry oder Wie es war

Part One of Austrian director Axel Corti's magnificent 'Where To And Back' trilogy opens in Vienna on the morning after Kristallnacht, with a suddenly orphaned Austrian boy joining the ranks of other Jewish refugees in their mad dash back and forth across Europe in the months just prior to and following Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939. Corti's dramatic realism (seamlessly integrating archival footage alongside his actors) brings to life all the fear and energy of desperate times, offering a vivid depiction of a people in transit, and examining larger issues of anti-Semitism and cultural exile from an urgent but intimate perspective. The script by Georg Stefan Troeller was clearly written from firsthand experience; nothing in it is black and white except the confusion of the displaced population, never more than one step ahead of persecution and death. It's a sensitive, powerful film, and a moving prelude to a much larger tale of flight and survival.

(Made originally for Austrian television, but I was fortunate to catch the entire trilogy on the big screen at Wheeler Auditorium on the Berkeley campus, back in 1987.)

This wonderful filmmaker captures the increasing disaster of life in Austria as a Jew in the late 30's and 40's. It is part of a trilogy made with Georg Stefan Troller, called Where To and Back. This film was originally made for Austrian Television, and has since been released in 35MM. The setting is the day after Krystalnacht, and this extraordinary film (of 3) follows a youth's attempt to avoid deportation as he flies to Prague, then Marseilles, joining with a renegade German officer and other Jews. The pursuit and the escape gets worse and worse.

The second film is Santa Fe, following the arrival in NYC of a ship from Europe, and the Austrians try to make new lives.

The third film is Welcome In Vienna where one of the Austrians is an American soldier sent back to Austria to interrogate prisoners. This is the only one originally released for theatrical distribution (they all are now).

Armin Mueller-Stahl plays the Dachau escaped German officer who befriends two of the Austrians, and this is one of his great performances. But ALL the actors are perfect for their parts, their roles, the casting is exceptional.