This documentary, directed by Brian Dilg and Linda G. Mills, tells a family's personal story focusing on their history of escaping from the Nazis in Austria, up through modern times. Although interesting and informative, I felt it only worked as a film on some levels.
When the terrorist attacks of 9/11 occurred Mills' family lived so close to the Twin Towers that an airplane part put a hole in the roof of their residence, and they were displaced for several weeks. Their son, as well, recalls having to run home from P.S. 234 to avoid any debris that might come their way.
So Mills decided that she wanted her son to learn about their family's history, in Austria during the Nazi regime, and not be shut off from information like she was from her mother and aunt. Thus Mills along with her husband Peter, mother Annie, father Harold, aunt Rita, and her son Ronnie embark on a ship to learn what they can about the family's past in Nazi occupied Austria.
In my opinion, this was the biggest problem with the documentary in that 10-year-old Ronnie admits he's almost totally disinterested in this whole project, saying himself "he's just a kid", and maybe in later life it will be different. It was difficult for me, as a viewer, to watch this all through the film, as it seemed his mother kept trying to force him to focus on the subject matter, but there was only resistance.
On the other hand, I was quite interested in the family's uncovering of documents, with the help of local Austrian historians, which illustrated virtually the step-by-step- harrowing situation the family faced to try and get out of Austria before they would be sent to extermination camps of the Nazis. In differing ways, they were almost all successful in these efforts, except for Linda's great grandmother who perished in the Holocaust camps.
There is also a focus on the Jewish Community Services in Austria, who remain controversial to this day, as some felt they helped many thousands of Jews emigrate out of Austria, while others felt they worked too closely with the Nazis and some were even collaborators with them.
All in all, as mentioned, not everything works here, but I did find the detailed account of what occurred in Austria some 70 years before and how the family survived and eventually reunited to be interesting and informative. I might mention also that there were elements in this movie that reminded me of the excellent documentary "The Flat" that I viewed last year.
When the terrorist attacks of 9/11 occurred Mills' family lived so close to the Twin Towers that an airplane part put a hole in the roof of their residence, and they were displaced for several weeks. Their son, as well, recalls having to run home from P.S. 234 to avoid any debris that might come their way.
So Mills decided that she wanted her son to learn about their family's history, in Austria during the Nazi regime, and not be shut off from information like she was from her mother and aunt. Thus Mills along with her husband Peter, mother Annie, father Harold, aunt Rita, and her son Ronnie embark on a ship to learn what they can about the family's past in Nazi occupied Austria.
In my opinion, this was the biggest problem with the documentary in that 10-year-old Ronnie admits he's almost totally disinterested in this whole project, saying himself "he's just a kid", and maybe in later life it will be different. It was difficult for me, as a viewer, to watch this all through the film, as it seemed his mother kept trying to force him to focus on the subject matter, but there was only resistance.
On the other hand, I was quite interested in the family's uncovering of documents, with the help of local Austrian historians, which illustrated virtually the step-by-step- harrowing situation the family faced to try and get out of Austria before they would be sent to extermination camps of the Nazis. In differing ways, they were almost all successful in these efforts, except for Linda's great grandmother who perished in the Holocaust camps.
There is also a focus on the Jewish Community Services in Austria, who remain controversial to this day, as some felt they helped many thousands of Jews emigrate out of Austria, while others felt they worked too closely with the Nazis and some were even collaborators with them.
All in all, as mentioned, not everything works here, but I did find the detailed account of what occurred in Austria some 70 years before and how the family survived and eventually reunited to be interesting and informative. I might mention also that there were elements in this movie that reminded me of the excellent documentary "The Flat" that I viewed last year.
