Running from Hatred and Hitler

I watched two foreign films that at the core have the same theme: running from the terror of oppression.

“Friends Forever” is a German language film and got mixed reviews. It wasn’t in the same class as Fanny’s Journey, but it was very enjoyable. “Friends Forever” tells a story of two thirteen year old buddies, Alex and Ferry. They do everything together and as young teenagers they are interested in sex, but not with each other. They live in a small town in Austria. They get away with things because Alex has a fantastic voice and he always insists that Ferry performs with him. As the war end nears and the bombers take larger tolls, the boys are sent away to join the Hitler Youth. The Hitler Youth is a para-military organization, nothing like the Boy Scouts. I thought the bottom line was the age of fourteen to join, but as the war waged on they may well have lowered their standards.

“The Hitler Youth were used to break up church youth groups, spy on religious classes and Bible studies, and interfere with church attendance. Education and training programs for the Hitler Youth were designed to undermine the values of the traditional elitist structures of German society along with their privileges. Their training also aimed to obliterate social and intellectual distinctions between classes, to be replaced and dominated by the political goals of Hitler’s totalitarian dictatorship. Besides promoting a doctrine of classlessness, additional training was provided that linked state-identified enemies such as Jews with Germany’s previous defeat in the First World War, and societal decline. The Hitler Youth were indoctrinated with the myths of Aryan racial superiority and to view Jews and Slavs as sub-humans.” – Wikipedia

In actuality the sub-humans were those who killed and destroyed people and spread lies. Watch the trailer for “Friends Forever” on Youtube – youtu.be/vBMhwVGMwkI

Comments about the film liken it to “The Sound of Music,” a sentimental movie, where the Von Trapp family singers dance and sing a couple of songs and escape by going over the mountain. I feel the comparison is a little cruel. Both “The Sound of Music” and “Friends Forever” take place in Austria, but “The Sound of Music” in a musical, while “Friends Forever” is a buddy film even though the two buddies are in the choir. Like a good “Buddy Film” things don’t always make sense. What does come through is the Nazi fixation with Jews (Alex is an un-circumcised Jew), and the need to close eyes, lie, and look the other way when it is in the best interest of certain people or certain parties . . . namely those who have more power than others, or are seeking those powers to keep others down. These problems still exist today around the world, with no cure as yet for turning a blind eye.

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“Fanny’s Journey” is again about the Germans and Adolph Hitler’s fixation against the Jews. They were made the scapegoat for every ill that befell Germany after World War I. Jews also were blamed for other ills all across Europe. Hate and rumors never have to make sense. Under the guise of following orders issued by Hitler’s Germany following the fall of France, many French citizens willingly joined in with the persecution. Not all French did, and many French worked to save the Jews especially children. I watched the film and then gave Peggy a shortened version. She then watched and I re-watched the film. I will probably watch it again.

The film is closed captioned. Sometimes in films the words of the captions and the spoken words don’t match up well. If the dialog is too fast paced, it is hard to read and enjoy. In “Fanny’s Journey” I kept the sound up and read the captions easily while watching the action AND the captions. Everything flowed just as if I was watching AND reading in English . . . or not reading at all.

The children know there are frightening possibilities ahead, but they are relying on adults to lead them.

As the adult leaders left to draw off the human bloodhounds or were grabbed by the Germans or French gendarmes the weight of responsibility fell on Fanny. She became a full adult as she handled one crisis after another. There were tiny scenes where Fanny became a regular little girl, but you could see the responsibility accepted like a garment that she needed to wear.

I love the scene where the young ones have a chance to behave like the children they are . . . temporarily. You can feel the relief and the weight fall away.

Watch the trailer for “Fanny’s Journey” – imdb.com/video/vi3852843545

“Fanny is a Jewish girl in a French orphanage in 1943. When she and her friends are no longer safe from the Nazis, they try to flee to Switzerland. After their guide disappears, Fanny has to take the lead and help the other kids make it over the mountains.”

Fanny was played by 13 year old Léonie Souchaud. Souchaud has appeared in two TV series as well as two other films.

Review Comment from Red-125
“Fanny’s journey is a Holocaust film, and depicts a daring escape attempt as eight children, led by 13-year-old Fanny, try to leave France to reach Switzerland. (A fact not stated in the IMDb material, but told to us during the introduction, is that actually Fanny led 23 children as they tried to escape. Director Doillon wisely decided to lower the number so that we could get to know some of the children as individuals.)”

Review Comment from IMDB-account515233
“We were so struck by the nuanced acting of even the youngest children.”

At the roll of credits we get to meet the real life Fanny, now living in Israel (2016). In reality, Fanny saved almost two dozen children and not the seven we see her protecting and leading in the film. By reducing the number of children we get to see their individual fright and acceptance of an adult mantle and every once in a while we see the children in them come out to play . . . briefly. I highly recommend this film.

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.