Sanctuary

I am learning that foreign films can be awesome. The subject is disturbing yet I couldn't stop watching.

What should I say...cried when Rising Sun came out. Wolfgang's dreams, his family, friends, and his normal life were gone. Freistatt is like a smelter, melting the stubbornness and persistence, till the end only desperation survives...Fortunately they escaped from it finally, burying this memory with their past identities. New life would come, I just hope......

Just beginning my weekend with a German movie about a boy with an Oedipus Complex getting abused and tortured at a reform school. I like to start things off light with true stories like this and work my up to the darker stuff. The Germans have some mighty fine actors cuz I was really wanting to see some of these characters six feet under. The main kid was played by Louis Hoffman who was like 16 or 17 and delivers a powerhouse performance. I was seriously impressed. I saw him previously in that Netflix series Dark and a gay coming of age movie called Center of My World and he's definitely a brave actor and one to watch.

Check out Wolfgang Petersen's 1977 film "The Consequence" (currently free at Amazon) which tells a very similar story of how parents could commit their "incorrigible" teens to these brutal institutional schools.

And if you make it to the end of "Sanctuary," you'll see that the German government has admitted these things were happening, and has paid restitution to some of the victims.

Thanks Brummund for such an excellent work. There should be more such courageous people who can tell the truth at the face of a super-hypocrite society in which we live. We live in a society which has no shortage of Sadists and very unfortunately children are the softest sufferer. I spent a year and half in a Missionary School in West Bengal, Kolkata. I was luckier than Wolfgang because my mother protected me, she did listen to me when I came home for summer vacations and complained that I will die if I go back to the mission. The film is actually so realistic, unlike what many reviewers here feel. I know that because I had been in a similar institution, though thousands of kilometres away. I remember how cruel had been many people in my locality after I returned from the coveted missionary school. There were many who asked why I returned, some suggested that I was kicked out. So I can understand why Wolfgang hit the neighbour he met on the street after he left him home without meeting his mother. Rest assured that such terrible places are still there in almost every country and will be there as long as we don't properly learn to treat others of our own species respectfully.

I only live a few miles away from Freistatt, Germany, and at least regionally the movie got some attention. "Freistatt" deals with a topic that is not often dealt with in movies, chose original locations for filming and lists some very able actors (Max Riemelt, Alexander Held) in its cast.

There is no fluff or filler in this movie, no boredom coming up. But while it is a good "time piece" in the sense that it gives you a good idea what it was like in that particular time and situation, there is no plot that is strong enough to really hold the movie together.

Ultimately, I would only recommend it to those who are curious about or have any connection to those failures of the education system that existed for way too long.