The 8/10 and 10/10 scores and rave reviews for this film are an entire mystery to me. They seem to have been reviewing a far better film, or had their eyes and ears sealed with beeswax during the film, while the film's distributors and salesmen whispered "it's great... trust us." Beeswax over your eyes and filling your ears may, in fact, be the only way to survive watching this fumbled, amateurish film.
True, it's fascinating to see the real devastation of Germany in the background of this story. There're also interesting historical points in the background, such as the separation of Catholic and Jewish children, and the exportation of the homeless Jewish children to Palestine.
It's also an interesting segue (segway) between the stiff, harsh acting & photography style of the earliest films and today's naturalistic, realistic approach.
We should also note that this Montgomery Clift's first film appearance, and he does well, though he is clearly the only pro worth his pay in this amateurish production.
It's easy to see why his career took off: His acting is naturalistic and very believable-- a compliment which cannot be extended to any other member of the cast. The remainder of the cast, including narrator, come across as the worst sort of self-conscious, wooden amateurs frozen in horror at how the filmmakers have wrapped this golden gem of a concept inside an odiously predictable, sappy script.
The poor acting extends, of course, to the child actors in general and the main star in particular. Suffice it to say that child actors are generally horrifically bad-- Haley Joel Osmet is the exception that proves the rule. If you recall the wooden, artificial acting of the kids in "The Sound of Music", then you will understand the depths of the poor acting in this film. When the child cries, he's clearly fakin' it, badly. When he's learning English, his phenomenal progress is schlock movie-magic. When he reacts to the other actors, his reactions seem all too choreographed.
Likewise, the plot points are predictable yet (with the exception of the broad strokes of the historical context) unbelievable in the extreme, as are the characters' reactions to the events in their lives except in the broadest sense. Imagine a flat, lifeless war-effort documentary newsreel, a "Li'l Rascals" episode, and a "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" episode, and you'll understand the poverty of intelligence exhibited by the scriptwriters. Without exception, you will be able to guess the function and result of every event, the moment it occurs.
Like bubblegum left on the bedpost overnight and chewed for several months, this predigested, predictable script is utterly bland. Every aspect of the film-making, with the exception of Clift's acting, does severe injustice to the subject material. If ever a film cried out to be remade , THIS IS IT. I curse the name of filmmakers who remake classics like "Psycho" or "It's a Wonderful Life", or simply reissue their old films, like Star Wars, E.T., and Cinderella, while ignoring such fumbling efforts as this one, which beg bitterly to be remade in better hands.
The storyline is sickeningly saccharine. It is of course moving subject material-- pure gold for a storyteller or historian, but handled in such a way that the pure gold becomes fools' gold-- a silk purse becomes a sow's ear. The subject matter is recovery in the aftermath of WWII and the holocaust, the costs of war on civilian life and children in particular, and so on. It's a little sad that, given this golden opportunity, the movie makers flubbed, stumbled, and stiffly moved from concept to amateurish finished film. If these filmmakers were alchemists, they'd be turning pure gold into dull, grey, heavy, worthless lead.
Most telling of all, this film seems destined to plug away at "we are good, they were bad, OUR military and churches would NEVER be bad... support American churches and armies. Our army builds bridges and gives homes to the homeless, we never shoot or bomb anybody! We're HEROES." In short, watch this film for Montgomery Clift and a look at a completely devastated, bombed-out city, but do NOT expect to feel emotionally moved nor embroiled in the film's universe-- it's too saccharine, predictable, and amateurishly acted to pull you into the story.
True, it's fascinating to see the real devastation of Germany in the background of this story. There're also interesting historical points in the background, such as the separation of Catholic and Jewish children, and the exportation of the homeless Jewish children to Palestine.
It's also an interesting segue (segway) between the stiff, harsh acting & photography style of the earliest films and today's naturalistic, realistic approach.
We should also note that this Montgomery Clift's first film appearance, and he does well, though he is clearly the only pro worth his pay in this amateurish production.
It's easy to see why his career took off: His acting is naturalistic and very believable-- a compliment which cannot be extended to any other member of the cast. The remainder of the cast, including narrator, come across as the worst sort of self-conscious, wooden amateurs frozen in horror at how the filmmakers have wrapped this golden gem of a concept inside an odiously predictable, sappy script.
The poor acting extends, of course, to the child actors in general and the main star in particular. Suffice it to say that child actors are generally horrifically bad-- Haley Joel Osmet is the exception that proves the rule. If you recall the wooden, artificial acting of the kids in "The Sound of Music", then you will understand the depths of the poor acting in this film. When the child cries, he's clearly fakin' it, badly. When he's learning English, his phenomenal progress is schlock movie-magic. When he reacts to the other actors, his reactions seem all too choreographed.
Likewise, the plot points are predictable yet (with the exception of the broad strokes of the historical context) unbelievable in the extreme, as are the characters' reactions to the events in their lives except in the broadest sense. Imagine a flat, lifeless war-effort documentary newsreel, a "Li'l Rascals" episode, and a "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" episode, and you'll understand the poverty of intelligence exhibited by the scriptwriters. Without exception, you will be able to guess the function and result of every event, the moment it occurs.
Like bubblegum left on the bedpost overnight and chewed for several months, this predigested, predictable script is utterly bland. Every aspect of the film-making, with the exception of Clift's acting, does severe injustice to the subject material. If ever a film cried out to be remade , THIS IS IT. I curse the name of filmmakers who remake classics like "Psycho" or "It's a Wonderful Life", or simply reissue their old films, like Star Wars, E.T., and Cinderella, while ignoring such fumbling efforts as this one, which beg bitterly to be remade in better hands.
The storyline is sickeningly saccharine. It is of course moving subject material-- pure gold for a storyteller or historian, but handled in such a way that the pure gold becomes fools' gold-- a silk purse becomes a sow's ear. The subject matter is recovery in the aftermath of WWII and the holocaust, the costs of war on civilian life and children in particular, and so on. It's a little sad that, given this golden opportunity, the movie makers flubbed, stumbled, and stiffly moved from concept to amateurish finished film. If these filmmakers were alchemists, they'd be turning pure gold into dull, grey, heavy, worthless lead.
Most telling of all, this film seems destined to plug away at "we are good, they were bad, OUR military and churches would NEVER be bad... support American churches and armies. Our army builds bridges and gives homes to the homeless, we never shoot or bomb anybody! We're HEROES." In short, watch this film for Montgomery Clift and a look at a completely devastated, bombed-out city, but do NOT expect to feel emotionally moved nor embroiled in the film's universe-- it's too saccharine, predictable, and amateurishly acted to pull you into the story.