Number Rolled: 56
Movie Name/Year: Naked
Among Wolves (2015)
Tagline: None
Genre: Drama,
History, War
Length: 101
minutes
Rating: NR
Production Companies:
UFA Fiction
Producer: Benjamin
Benedict, Jana Brandt, Tim Greve, Nico Hofmann, Verena Monben, Korinna Roters, Christine
Strobl, Sebastian Werninger
Director: Philipp
Kadelbach
Writer: Bruno
Apitz, Stefan Kolditz
Actors: Florian
Stetter, Peter Schneider, Sylvester Groth, Sabin Tambrea, Robert Gallinowski,
Rainer Bock, Rafael Stachowiak, Thorsten Merten, Torsten Michaelis, Robert
Mika, Matthias Bundschuh, Ulrich Brandhoff, Torsten Ranft, Andreas Lust, Marko
Mandic, Leonard Carow, Janusz Cichocki, Paula Hartmann, Jens Harzer, Max
Hegewald, Robert Hunger-Buhler, David Sir, Vojta Vomacka, Tim Williams
Stunts: Jan
Arnost, Jan Blahak, Marek Brichcin, Matous Brichcin, Robert Lahoda, Antje Rau,
Tomas Rydval, Ivo Zubaty
Blurb from Netflix:
When an orphan boy is smuggled into a concentration camp, he is protected by
the prisoners, but the camp’s Nazi guards soon learn of his presence.
Selina’s Point of View:
I’m a little shaky at the moment.
From the very moment this film started playing, I knew what I
was in for. It was meant to be a shocking and honest portrayal of the events
that took place in one of the concentration camps. Even less truthful films
about the holocaust can be difficult to watch, but this one was like a stab in
the chest.
Naked Among Wolves
was absolutely heartbreaking. In fact, the last film I can think of that
captured the feel of the holocaust anywhere near the level this one did was Escape from Sobibor (1987).
I can’t imagine how difficult it was to film this.
We’ve discussed the mental toll acting out vicious scenes
can take on the actors. Almost everyone knows the tales of how Alfred Hitchcock
(Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window)
treated Tippi Hedren (Tribute, Dead
Write, The Bold and the Beautiful) on the set of The Birds (1963) – or how Stanley Kubrick (Spartacus, A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut) treated Shelley
Duvall (Changing Habits, Home Fries, The
Portrait of a Lady) on the set of The
Shining (1980).
The directors, in both instances claimed to make their
choices in order to get the most honest performances from their actors.
In films like those, I imagine a director might need an
alternate method of getting the most heartbreaking reaction from someone – but this
was a film based on real life. I’m guessing that just knowing the events they
were portraying were actually very close to real life, was all the motivation
these actors needed.
Everything was written and acted so well that I can’t
imagine a situation where someone wouldn’t be feeling every emotion they were
meant to. Even the subtitles seemed to disappear for me, and I forgot I wasn’t
just hearing English.
This was a great, if extremely troubling film. It was
supposed to be troubling, though… and that counts as an incredible success.
Cat’s Point of View:
The dice have been giving us a lot of war movies lately. Seriously,
what’s up with that?
Thinking of this film brings to mind so much that I have difficulty
knowing where to start.
One thing’s for sure – I felt every moment of the 101
minutes of run-time. Usually, when I’m mentioning that it’s because I’m bored.
That was decidedly not the case this time. It took a little bit to get
invested; but once this movie had me in its grip, it didn’t let go. I spent a
good chunk of the time with my heart in my throat worrying for the plight of
the characters. I admit I checked the progress bar a few times –but only to see
how much longer I might have to wait to learn what their fate would be.
The casting here was brilliant. I found the actors relatable
in their roles, but the standout for me was the little boy. Oh, good lord how
precious! It’s easy to see how he melted hearts (and inspired my tears). I
really don’t know how child actors fare in Germany in comparison to the curse
that seems to follow those stateside; but I know that this little dude is a
leading man in the making. It really came across to me that he was emoting and
not just following cues.
I have a decided love-hate relationship with this movie. It
was well made, and was a stirring glimpse into history and highlighting events
at a place you don’t hear as much about as opposed to Auschwitz. On the other
hand, it gave me feels about some SS characters that I wasn’t comfortable with.
I’d actually recommend this movie in a heartbeat for anyone
who enjoys the war-movie genre – especially from more of the drama angle
instead of pitched battle footage.
Languages
Speech Available:
French, German, Polish
Subtitles Available:
English, French, Polish
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore - None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 7.2/10
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating
– 4/5
Trust-the-Dice’s
Parental Advisory Rating: R
P.S. There are
some historical recordings inserted into the film.
P.S.2. This film
is a remake.
Movie Trailer:
No comments:
Post a Comment