The Devil's Arithmetic

Taking place in modern-day times and in 1941, THe Devil's Aritmetic is well-presented and clever. However, it does not give you the realistic, heartbreaking effect that Schindler's List did. They should have given the audience a better effect by maybe spending a little more money. Kirsten Dinst "travels" back in time to a concentration camp and sees what the Jews went through. There she learns the story of some ancestors of her Jewish family. With a satisfying cast of Mimi Rogers, Kirsten Dunst, and many others, The Devil's Arithmetic is all in all not that bad.

While obviously this isn't a perfect education of the horrors of the Holocaust, it's not meant to be. This movie was based on a Young Adults' book, and it's transformed into a Young Adults' movie. It's not supposed to be a perfectly accurate portrayal, and it's not meant for historians or anything. But it is a touching film and excellent education for people to understand what it was like then. There are many powerful moments in the movie. A particularly impressive part, to me, was when Kirsten Dunst's character points to the number branded on her arm, and cries, "I wanted one of these!" referring to a tattoo. I think the highlight, however, was Brittany Murphy's incredible part. She was virtually unrecognizable, and her acting was superb. She literally threw herself into the part, and she shines. She truly is one of the greatest things about this movie.

I actually liked this when I saw it on TV. A lot of people probably saw the cut, shorter version on (station named after famous novel written down by Homer, following the Iliad) in the US. But I got to see the whole version, and, after having read the book several times, I can say that it is a very good book. It makes Hannah (or Chaya, in the book) look like the spoiled wild-child that the book did not develop enough, and the other characters were perfect in their roles. The acting was good, the sets were realistic and quaint, and the storyline is historically accurate, as well as to the mark on the book. In short, it's a very good film.

After seeing this movie, I first thought it was very, very sad. And then I started to consider the historical accuracy of it, and the more I thought about it...I was deeply and morally offended. The fact that the people who made this were actually trying to encapsulate all of the horrors of the Holocaust into ninety-minutes was horrible. I understand that it was on TV, and certain limits were placed on it, but the fact that the people in POLAND in 1941 had never seen a Nazi...hurt my feelings. All of Poland fell in two weeks in 1939. And all of the Nazis at that "camp" were dancing to swing music, although Hitler banned it in around 1938. The list goes on and on. And their inaccurate idea of a camp was not even close to what the real prisoners had to suffer through. I know that it was only on TV and not a "major motion picture" but still I thought it was terrible, and their lack of respect for the Holocaust victims alone is more heartbreaking than this horrible movie.

I have yet to read the book, but I can say that this movie is wonderful. This modern day teenager is taken back into the past to the time of the Holocaust, taken to a Nazi death camp, and experiences what really happened. I dont think many of us truly realized what it meant to be a Jew back then. Jews were treated as 'pets' in those camps, being branded, 'owned', and forced to work, which basically makes them slaves. I knew about the Holocaust before this movie, and I knew it was so terrible, but the reality of it never really hit me until this movie. But now I think I understand so much more. And I'm only 13. It shows the Jews when they first get to the camp, when they are forced to take off their clothes, put on other clothes which include a special coat with the Star or David on it, have their hair cut off, and get branded with a number on their arm for identification. And then we see how they lived, what they feared, and worst of all, how they died. I'd have to say the ending is what really hit me the most. I wont tell you what happened at the ending, but I will say, if you watch this movie with all your concentration and heart, you will feel a feeling you've probably never experienced, because you've probably never felt the real pain of torture and horror. And that it what this movie expresses.