Remembrance (2011) User Reviews

Half of it is great!

[szokia · 6/10 · 9 August 2015]

Not sure how this movie got developed, but half of it is absolutely spectacular in story, locations, performances, the whole deal. That's the part of the story that deals with the past. The storyline here is well cast, beautifully acted, really nicely developed in every single area. It is an 8-9 star movie here.

However, and it's a BIG However, the modern-day segments of the story leave ever so much to be desired. The relationships between the characters are poorly developed, the acting is stilted, wooden. Actors throwing lines at one another like darts. The set is OK, but just OK. The storyline in the modern segments does not flow, doesn't even make sense sometimes. Like when the main character's daughter asks her a question and is given an absent-minded answer, to which she replies: "I don't believe it! You're lying to me!" There was no lying involved. There was barely an answer at all. Also, one of the main, most salient lines of the modern-day protagonist, which is repeated twice is really-really badly delivered. This robs it of all its depth and meaning.

All in all, I'm glad to have seen this movie for the good parts. And, because the good parts were so very good, I can only mourn how wonderful the whole movie could have been, had it been given the same treatment throughout. Were there two directors maybe???

Good Film With Some Reservations

[lavatch · 7/10 · 23 May 2014]

In this modest film, the Holocaust is the backdrop for a touching personal drama. The narrative blends the story of a family living in Brooklyn in the 1970s with the tortured past of the main character, Hannah Silberstein, a survivor of the horrors of World War II.

The film is successful in unfolding the parallel stories from the late period of World War II and the world of the 1970s. The acting is extremely credible from the two women playing the young and mature Hannah, as well as the two men portraying Tomasz Limanowski. The realization that Tomasz may still be alive was the main thread that tied the two stories together.

One somewhat disconcerting strand of the plot was the apparent lack of sensitivity on the part of the husband and the daughter when Hannah became upset on the day of the party at their home in Brooklyn. It was almost as if the husband and daughter knew nothing about her harrowing past. Both characters were slow to empathize with her situation. Why was Hannah so reluctant to open up about her past, and why couldn't they accept that she was clearly distressed?

By contrast, the older Tomasz confided everything to his daughter in their apartment in Poland, and it was clear that the daughter knew about her father's past love for Hannah. In the American family, it was as if the past had been repressed and was a family secret.

The 1970s timeframe was still the period of the Cold War. I wonder if the filmmakers were attempting to make a point about the seemingly open relationship of the father-daughter in the repressive world of Poland in the the 1970s, versus the rather stern and strict American family in the same era? If so, what was the point?

Authentic WWII tale

[robertemerald · 7/10 · 23 October 2019]

Remembrance very quickly alerts the viewer to the horrors of a concentration camp. It's not a death camp, in fact it seems to be a bakery, but the constant insults and shouting of orders, and the way prisoners have learnt to be automatically deferential to their captors, is palatable. It's a bit of an eye-opener and worth a look just for that. The escape is knife-edged, also worth a look. The movie continues to be poignant by reproducing some common dilemmas and attitudes toward known at that time, even when in relative safety. As a war movie it's a great story. The contrast with 1971 New York is given in parallel throughout but is not too intrusive if you're only really interested in the story 1944-45, but I would question the need for it at all. Added to that is the problem of the younger/older versions of the heroine bearing very little physical similarities aside from height and hair colour. And in regard to the 1971 aspect, whilst I know as a baby boomer myself, and having grown up surrounded by war veterans, all of whom tended to be overly serious and dismissive of my generation, that the apparent meanness of the couple later in life shown here is probably a true reflection, quite frankly, as a movie, well, it was hard to watch. That's what is keeping my score here down to a 7. If you liked movies like Sophie's Choice (1982) then you'll probably like this one. Given it's a true story and a very competent piece of film theatre, with good sets/actors/locations/cameras, Remembrance is easy to recommend.

A small story hugely overworked

[rowmorg · 6/10 · 25 August 2014]

Having sexual intercourse naked in the woods is pretty wild when you're in love and SS fanatics with dogs are hunting you. That's the high point of this movie about two individuals who managed to escape from the Auschwitz nightmare city during the unspeakable horrors of WW2. The rest of the movie is a poorly conceived account of Hannah in 1976 (the unrecognisable older version, played by Dagmar Manzel) lost in a dream of her 30 years-ago lover who rescued her. After what seems hours and hours of filmed effort, hampered by her uncomprehending and poorly acted husband and daughter, she finally manages to telephone him, then just breaks down. The film is half-an-hour too long, and their love is barely credible outside the freakish horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp and fervid naked intercourse in the woods. Not recommended except for people inclined to wallow in sentiment.

A much under-rated sleeper hit

[aaron-hermond · 9/10 · 25 June 2013]

My wife & I headed out to the movies, we only have a small local theatre and the choice was World War Z, After Earth or this. I'm very glad we chose this movie.

Without giving anything away, I strongly recommend this movie, it is superbly made & acted, though at times some of the camera work was lacking (grainy darks, odd colours), not sure if this was intentional or not, but it wasn't too distracting.

Subtitles are always a hit with me, I much prefer movies in their native languages. Again, not distracting at all and easy to follow.

No big names that most people would recognise bar one and his is not a lead role.

I'll leave the various themes & meanings to other reviewers. I just go to watch & enjoy.

I recommend.

One of the finest films I've ever seen

[rps-2 · 10/10 · 22 March 2014]

As of this writing, there are 1894 films on my IMDb list. If I rate them by excellence, this would be in the top three. If I listed only war and Holocaust movies, it would be Number 1 (The Boy In The Striped Pajamas would be number two.) The story is brilliant. The acting is magnificent. The low key photography and the often bleak weather settings fit the story perfectly. And the ending... No spoiler here. Let's just say my wife and I will discuss the ending many times. Powerful, powerful stuff yet understated, its fierce emotions (love, hate, suspicion,anger, fear) often conveyed without words, just superb facial gestures and expressions. It's also quite an accomplishment to make any film --- much less a superb one like this --- in four languages (English, German, Polish, Russian) I saw no listing of awards. It deserves any number of them! Screening this remarkable film more than makes up for all the bad movies --- perhaps 60% of those 1894 entries --- that I've endured over the years. If cinema is indeed an art form, this is a Van Gogh!

Beautiful, Sorrowful, and Stunning

[smwildmon · 10/10 · 21 May 2014]

I stumbled across this gem of a film on Netflix, and it had four out of five stars, so I figured I would give it a shot. I am so glad I took the time to watch it. The storyline is nothing short of amazing, and after viewing the movie, I did some research, and found that it is based on a true story. Visually stunning, with a beautiful score to match, Remembrance kept me hypnotized for two hours solid. Considering I am a bit of a critic when it comes to love stories, I was shocked by how powerfully moving this one was. It broke my heart in two. I won't go into details about the plot, because frankly, I think this is one of those works of art that should be experienced and not described. I will just say, watch it for yourself. It is well worth the time.

poignant and well-acted

[Olentse · 10/10 · 27 July 2014]

beautiful, haunting, superbly acted. One of the finest personal stories I've seen about World War II. Excellent cast! I felt that there wasn't black or white, and while it would have been easy to fall into clichés, the story actually left a lot to explore on our own and there was much more grey. I was particularly impressed by the actors, there was so much nuance and emotion and subtlety that at times I felt it was too real to be acted out. I stumbled upon this movie on Netflix and I didn't know what to expect. WWII movies can be too melodramatic and predictable, in my experience. However, this swept me off my feet and I feel that I will be going back to these story over and over again. I am so glad that I have decided to give it a try! Fantastic movie!

Good Movie Bad Ending

[junsa5150 · 4/10 · 24 December 2018]

I thought this was a good movie that was ruined by the ending. Some people must like open ended movies where you get to decide what happens, but I happen to HATE them. A good movie is to be remembered, and part of that complete memory (at least to me) is the ending. Movies like this I tend to forget. Prior to the ending I was really enjoying the story. I would have rated this movie much higher had it not been for the weak ending.

Great love story. WW2 Doctor Zhivagp, but better

[Mpomianek · 10/10 · 17 March 2014]

This movie reminded me a modern day Doctor Zhivago. I loved everything about the movie, I loved how the past and the present appear right next to each other. Not sure what the previous reviewer meant about the historical accuracy issues...or why he had mention Auschwitz in his review. Mr. or Mrs Shwartz, there were hundreds of concentration camps during WW2, there was no mention of Auschwitz camp during the movie. It could have been any camp. What did you mean with the high school students? Were you trying to hurt feeling of the people like myself who actually enjoyed the movie? What movie would you recommend instead? Did you really see the movie? I was a little afraid the movie was going to be little corny but I didn't have to. The directing, acting the paste were executed beautifully.

Brilliant wartime romance

[NateWatchesCoolMovies · 9/10 · 13 September 2016]

On a chaotic summer day among the poor souls in a horrific Polish concentration camp, 1944, young inmate Tomasz (Mateusz Damiecki) is desperate. German jew Hannah (Alice Dywer) is almost certainly meant for death at the hands of the Nazis running the facility. The two have fallen hopelessly in love, and he knows he must get her out and far, far away before it's too late. In an impossibly courageous effort and a scene that will pummel your nerves, he uses a stolen SS officer's uniform, scoops her up from the workhouse wing and quietly leads her right out the front gate. The two disappear into the neighboring Polish woodland in what is one of the only escapes from a nazi concentration camp ever documented. It's a bold, thrilling, stirring way to start the film, whether or not you know of its origins in actual history. That kind of escape from a place so hellish is a collective sigh of relief from both audience and characters, and it's one nail biter of an emotional ring of fire we all are forced to jump through. But we know this isn't the end, the resolute happiness we so wish for these two, because the film has only just started. In the confusion near the end of the war, the two of them are separated, and move forward in life each believing the other to be dead. This is all interspersed with visions of Hannah's life far in the future of 1976, now married, in her 50's and played by the sensational Dagmar Menzel. In a dry cleaner shop one day she happens to see a talk show on European television, where a man recounts his daring rescue and escape from Auschwitz. The details are eerily similar, and Hannah's mind races. Could this be Tomasz? Could he be alive after all these years and most importantly, should she go to him despite the gulf of time that signifies their prolonged separation? The film tugs at your heartstrings in so many different ways and moments, effectively hanging your tear ducts out to dry. No one can say no to a good wartime romance, because the formula is just too workable. Amidst all that confusion, terror and violence it is essential to find some sort of good with which to combat the dark, and what better way than the strongest force of all, love? Dywer and Damiecki are beyond convincing in their roles, so clearly blessed and burdened with that go for broke, die for one another type passion that we all look for and seldom find. American actor David Rasche plays Hannah's husband in New York, clearly torn up by the tumultuous past rearing it's head in their lives, but willing to empathize with the woman he loves and strive to do what's best in this difficult situation. Menzel is conflicted, hurt, hopeful and utterly, convincingly reactive in a role that's just not an easy one to pull off. Director Anna Justice uses majesterial skill to get the flow of story just right from scene to scene. Narratives which skip backwards and forwards in time can often feel jagged and unfounded in cohesion, but this one ebbs and flows from moment to moment without a single beat skipped or turn of plot out of place. I did some research on the true life tale this is based on, and for the most part they have stuck to fact to bring us as story that's almost unbelievable, and deeply emotional. Remembrance is a keeper.

Well done all the way around; why have I never heard of it?

[oceandreamer-941-487418 · 9/10 · 28 September 2014]

I really enjoyed this movie. Well acted by all, with an exceptional performance by Susanne Lothar as Stefania: Her face can convey an entire page of dialogue without a word. The cinematography was wonderful as well, darkness playing a large part of dark subject matter. Stories like this one tend to get lost over time while the major battles and often-told hero accounts stay in the public's mind. I'm sure this isn't the only concentration camp love story to be told, but it gives the observer a view they may never have imagined. Much time and thought...and possibly discussion...will be given to the ending, I promise you that. See it; you won't be disappointed.

Hauntingly beautiful

[bethhuntington-407-649992 · 9/10 · 11 December 2014]

SPOILER ALERT

I now know that this beautiful film is based on a true story.

I had, also, run across the film on Netflix. Having not heard of the film, or its actors, I watched with no preconceptions.

All of the beauty of the film notwithstanding, I, being an American Jew, raised in the 1970s, must focus on Hannah's American family.

Our parents, grandparents, survivors in the Jewish community, did not speak of what they had experienced. They just did not tell us.

In contrast to Tomasz, who clearly, had told his daughter about Hannah and their experience.

It seemed, from the movie, that Tomasz was able to incorporte his past with his present far- better than Hannah, whose husband and daughter seemed oblivious to Hannah's traumatic past.

We know how the story played out in reality, and, if you don't, well, keep looking and you'll see.

I loved watching the movie, and I plan to watch again. I do wish, however, that we were able to, once we knew that Tomasz has survived, see more of his life in the seventies.

If you're reading about this film, and haven't seen it, please do so. It's a rare film that treats the subject with sensitivity and respect, without trivializing the persons involved, even the despicable Tomasz' mother.

Watch Magdelena very carefully. Her performance was nothing short of perfection.

Melodramatism often lacking authenticity

[rmsoran-1 · 3/10 · 12 December 2013]

Average artistic, directing and storytelling, not bad, but certainly also not good, given the Auswitz and the Holocaust context. The basic story had all ingredients for a very good resulting plot and accurate artistic translation.

Unfortunately is the director's approach filled with post-Shoa clichés that gives induce artificial, quality diminishing elements into the dramaturgy and authenticity of the resulting work.

Can be recommended to high school students from families that experienced the Holocaust and like to talk about. For those attracted by real historic accounts, be they even sentimental, it won't rise up to expectations. For all others: read better a good book

A Dreadful Piece of History Exquisitely Portrayed

[jsrobinson132 · 10/10 · 18 August 2014]

I recorded this movie on my TiVo without knowing anything about it except it was a story set around a Nazi Concentration Camp with two of its inmates falling in love and then losing each other for a period of 30 years. The story was told with exquisite dialogue and shooting sequences taking your heart along with these two for every step of their journey. In my mind it is easy to understand Anna's dilemma and responses when you realise the level of love, hardship and devotion they shared through such a turbulent period of their lives. The actual ending was enacted in a way that was totally unexpected but perfect for the storyline and I dare not spoil it for readers so the impact can be experienced in full. Since I was a teenager I have read several novels and biographies and seen many movies based around this dreadful time in history but this is by far the best, even though many of the others were memorable and very well done. Based on two survivors of Auschwitz in Poland - Jerzy Bielecki and Cyla Cybulska - it is a beautifully written and directed piece of cinema. Now to find the book it's based around...

An Incredible love story

[johnsmallshaw · 10/10 · 22 November 2018]

My Polish born wife and I watched this beautiful film last evening, it is hard to believe that it based upon actual events. The acting is amazing, and the story brought a tear to our eyes. It really reveals that love can rise above terribly evil events.

One of the most beautiful German movies of 2011

[lin-rozenszajn · 10/10 · 16 June 2014]

I discovered this gem of a film on Netflix. Watching it, I felt an overwhelming sense of awe…..this is a truly beautiful film. The acting is amazing, the visuals stunning and the music is heart-breaking. The story is fascinating and one of the most original I have seen in newer WWII films. If you are looking for excellent drama, emotional romance and an epic story to simply be absorbed into for few hours……watch this film. It will remain with you for a long time.

For a brief synopsis of the plot: a young Jewish woman is interned in a German concentration camp during World War II. There, she meets a man who eventually rescues her from the camp. Thirty years later, she runs into him again in a most unexpected way, and a tale of longing, epic, emotionally wrenching romance begins.

Learn Polish, Hate German Soldiers, Watch Smoke Billow!!!

[GeoPierpont · 3/10 · 11 September 2016]

If you enjoy watching grass grow, water boil, silent movies then you are in for one fine treat here! I wanted to hurl something at the screen every single time a question was asked and yet another long hard stare was skillfully employed to really get the drama going. The Camp scenes were brutal and I wish someone would stop making me hate hate hate every German soldier ever! Was there an additional 3 million non-Jews persecuted and wasn't Poland primarily Catholic?

I found the English translation to be poor in many instances, probably the worst to date but some reviews claimed there were none at all, so guess I need not complain.

Did Hannah ever have that baby? Did she end up staying with Tomasz forever when they reunited? Could this film move ANY slower with stilted, limited, meaningless dialogue? This is not my first time at the Rodeo with WWII atrocities but this was disrespectful. The screenplay adeptly drew the audience in with the illicit Camp affair but lost any capacity to evoke any emotion other than frustration beyond the escape.

I have great patience for Foreign, Silent, Abstract, Progressive films and gave it my all with this mess. I could not wait for the end to see what happens and had to endure all the travel scenes, smoke billowing, blank facial expressions etc.

Arghhhhhh, do not recommend anything here. It is based on a true story and you wonder how can one pull off an affair under such strict supervision. That was the only moment when you might have an inkling of appreciation for survival mode.

If you are from Poland this depicts horrific acts by both enemy and ally. I did learn a few words and it seems difficult to learn Polish.

Just another German Nazi movie

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 9 May 2015]

There have been so many and there is nothing truly new or refreshing about this one. The Holocaust references have been in many past films and done better most of the time, while the love story is nothing out of the ordinary either. I wish these 105 minutes had some better writing. The film's writer is Pamela Katz, who has worked on other historically significant films like "Rosenstraße" or "Hannah Arendt". She got some help with the script from director Anna Justice. This has been Justice's last theatric release so far and it is already almost 5 years ago since then. The movie has lots of Polish dialog, so subtitles will certainly help. Most of it is in German though. The cast (Dwyer, Manzel, Lothar, Lukas) is fairly known in Germany, but none of these really delivered great performances for me. Also the two main characters meeting again in the end after the closing credits come did not do too much for me on an emotional level. The whole story was just too generic. Also the female protagonist's contradictory behavior on several occasions does not really help the matter, for example when she says her husband is her only true love and yet needs to meet her Polish savior from World War II. The only thing I kinda liked about this film was the music. Not too much in your face, but still not too insignificant. Fits the topic pretty nicely. Almost everything else is very forgettable though. Not recommended.

Touched love

[wjc-90743 · 5 March 2022]

What a great sad love story would of loved to have met them ...the base of the story a true storey of love and walking out that gate with his lover wearing a nazi uniform..and it's true come on that itself is amazing never mind the rest of there touchered lives...1 of the best love stories I ever saw..so far out there yet it's fact.

Painfully emotional

[fuljah · 11 June 2023]

Maybe this movie is not a masterpiece but it is painfully emotional. It is not romantic, i dont think so. I did not even think that the main characters loved each other. It is just responsibility to another person on the Polish man's part under very hard conditions. I read that the director died a very sad death at a very young age after directing this film. I dont wanna search over google because this move was already full of melodrama , i dont wanna put myself under further pain. I think everybody shall watch this movie. It is about human condition, history and life. The German name is The Lost Time not Remembrance and it reminds us the responsibility to live a responsible life.