Customer Reviews

The Devil's Arithmetic [VHS]

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I recently showed this film to my 7th graders as a part of our study of the Jewish people. I wasn't sure what to expect. To be certain, Kirsten Dunst (Hannah) is popular with teens today, yet I could not guess how a film dealing with Passover Seders, Hebrew traditions, and a war so far away from the life of modern teens would go over in my classroom.

To my surprise, the film proved to be the most riveting and attention-holding movie I can ever recall showing. In it are contained superb acting, eerie (and effective) musical interludes, and a suspense of time-travel that will hold teenagers absolutely spellbound!

Dustin Hoffman's poignant introduction reveals his passion that young people today never forget the holocaust. As long as this film is available to be watched, they won't.

At times, the suffering of the Jews (made personal by Dunst's wonderful performance) pushes the emotional limit of what I felt my students could take. Yet, with craft and artistry, we are spared in "The Devils' Arithmetic" the emotional overload of "Schindler's List". This is as it should be. "The Devil's Arithmetic" is geared to teenagers.

If ever a theme of love, sacrifice, and the horror of hatred needed portrayal outside the realm of religion, one could not do much better than to show this film. What Hannah does for her best friend at the movie's conclusion is as gut-wrenching as it is predictable, and Nazi treatment of the Jews is brutally captured with appropriate reserve--no easy task! In the end, a young Jewish girl who began only with an interest in tattoos learns the lessons of history, tradition, and above all--life's priorities. In a nutshell, how lives and a culture can change in an instant is the strength of "The Devil's Arithmetic".

Be very sure--this film will make a powerful impact on young teens! The dropping of the gas pellets at the conclusion of the dream sequence is intense...very intense. Yet how can the Holocaust be portrayed without such reality? With younger teenagers, take care that background preparation, as well as a reflective time for discussion is provided. This movie packs an emotional punch, and will leave young minds impressed forever.

Originally made for Showtime, this excellent video is is based upon the children's book of the same title. Make no mistake, Devil's Arithmatic is brutal and honest -- and definitely not for younger viewers. However, it is an excellent introduction to the reality of the Holocaust for junior high or middle school students.

Hannah is like most contemporary teenagers -- she'd really rather be with friends than participate in her family's Passover Seder.(The fact that it's Passover and she's hanging out watching her friend get a tattoo doesn't even strike her as ironic. Hannah is a child of the '90s.) She grudgingly does go to the Seder, because, well, she doesn't have a choice.

Instead of actually participating, Hannah gets tipsy. Then, things start to get interesting. Devil's Arithmatic is a lesson distguised as a time-travel story. How Hannah ends up in Poland in 1942 isn't important. She's there. And she's rounded up along with everybody else. Suddenly, all those stories old people insist on telling over and over begin to make sense.

The brutality of life in a concentration camp becomes a living breathing thing -- not just a number on her Aunt Eva's arm. Being a Jew begins to have meaning she never imagined. Hannah finds that what you believe can not only give you strength -- it can define you and your world. More importantly, it can give you the knowledge to choose. Choice is power. In the the world of the unnamed camp, one can either choose humanity or spiritual death. Hannah chooses humanity.

I really don't want to reveal too much of the plot, because the twists make Devil's Arithmatic extremely affecting.

Normally, I do not like fiction about the Holocaust. To me, fictionalising the Shoah is disrepectful; it is like lying. This movie, however, is respectful and in its own way very haunting. It has its own world and its own truths.

I cannot reccommend this video highly enough.

The Holocaust has to be one of the worst things to have happened in history. And, as those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, we continue to retell the story of the Holocaust from every different angle. This is an amazing telling of an incredibly sad tale. Those familiar with the Passover Seder knows that the story is explained to four "sons:" the Wise Son, the Bad Son, the Simple Son, and the Son Who Cannot Ask A Question. Kirsten Dunst plays a modern girl who epitomizes the Bad Som. She's not evil, but doesn't know what the heck it has to do with her. Nor does she care. Due to too much wine, or a miracle, Hannah is transported back in time to the Holocaust, where she spends time with family members before they go into a concentration camp, and is caught and sent to the camp with them. I cried hysterically throughout, and remain haunted by The Devil's Arithmetic. Because I hear that the book is even better, i'll be reading that as well. For a deeply moving story about the Holocaust, I do recommend this video.

As this movie is based on one of my favorite children's books (the book is by Jane Yolen) I was very excited to find there was a movie version. It is very touching, yet frustrating if you've read the book. A great many characters are eliminated from the movie altogether, while some who are important are introduced at the beginning, then never heard from again (e.g., Esther & Shifre). This movie is perhaps a good precursor for children who might be overwhelmed by "Schindler's List".

To me, the MOST annoying difference was that they completely removed the whole reason for calling it "The Devil's Arithmetic"! In the book, the girls are taught by a mentor in the concentration camp that they no longer have names and are just a number. To memorize their tattooed numbers, they each create a mnemonic device to remember their numbers easily. In the movie, this is replaced by the "adding and subtracting of Jews" statements made by the camp commandant throughout the film, which does not have the same effect as the device used in the book.

While the choice of Dunst for the part of Hannah is questionable, I was completely bowled over by Brittany Murphy in the role of Rivka...and seeing Louise Fletcher in a kind, caring role for once was a nice touch! All in all, a potentially educational movie, but not half as good as the book!

Kirsten Dunst has made the transition from a child/teenage actress to a legitimate adult actress with this movie in my opinion. She portrays a Jewish teenage girl in the 1990's without a care or a concerned thought for her family and is "magically" transported back in time to the 1942 Nazi Occupation of Poland.

In the beginning of the movie Dunst is an overprivledged teenage girl who is either ashamed to admit to being Jewish or has never really thought about it. She attends her Aunt Eva's Passover dinner, Aunt Eva is effectively portrayed by Louise Fletcher...then Dunst is asked to open the door for Elijah...the terror begins...

Dunst who plays the teenage girl Hannah goes back to 1942 Poland, and in the most chilling way possible learns to value and appreciate her faith, heritage and belief of her religion. What a spiritual journey this is...This movie may have been made in mind for young adults, but it is a message for everyone, and the message is....

Never Forget....

Highly recommended

Last year we were learning about the Holocaust in school and one of the books we've read was The Devil's Arithmetic and we saw the movie. That just blew my mind when I saw it because there was so much emotion in it. Kirstin Dunst is a great actress in this movie. She plays this character right. In this movie I will gaurentee you, that you will cry a little. It's so devistating how one man can just have control over one religion for so long. The things that the Jewish had to go through was terible, like they had #'s litterally branded on there arms, also all of there hair was cut off and how they took their showers was just awfull.

The movie is slightly different from the book like its a more modern day age in which its taking place. also The girl is much older in the movie.

Both the movie and the book just makes you think about how life is special.

It happened. It happened a million times to a million different Jews, though this story isn't based on any specific one of them. Something like that really happened to some poor person out there, someone who was ripped from their lives and put into a concentration camp, taken from their families, their homes and their freedom. People suffered. People died. People were and are permenantly scarred. And that is why this movie is so *SAD*...

Hannah (Kirsten Dunst) doesn't seem to care much about her family's past. So when she magically ends up in Poland in 1942, it is safe to say she is terrified and bewidered. And while she is there in Poland, the Nazis come and take her, and the family members she is staying with away to a concentration camp. They tattoo her, and shave off her hair. They give her clothing to wear which is nothing more than rags, and make her do hard labor. She is no longer a name, she is a number. She has no freedom.

And she is scared out of her mind.

She finally begins to learn that she should show some more respect to her ancestors and her history. But it's too late.

Anyone with a heart, with a conscience, will love this movie and the moving message it brings.

This was truly the best movie I have ever seen! It truly shows how the holocaust was and how horid it was without the bad parts! Dunst was great and so was Murphey they really put there character to life. My teacher showed it to us because we were learning and it really helped! It made me feel like I was there!
It really made me realize how awful they had it and how good we have it now! It seemed so real!
5 stars! 2 thumbs up!
By: Danielle Daley a 7th grader.

This is my first review and I write it in response to the "Margaret" review listed earlier. This was a good, entertaining movie which I would recommend. Certainly it is a story that has been told before, this one is somewhat different as it presents a time travel element.

Because it is about Jews "the conspicuous people" as Margarert calls them, she deems this unnecessary viewing as other people have been hurt too.

The Nazi Regime and its allies deliberately murdured 6.6 million people, 5.9 million of those were Jews. These were not innocent civilians killed as a byproduct of a modern/mechanized war (collateral damage). Yes, many millions of innocent civilians were killed as a result of bombing, shelling, and other sad aspects of war. That is terrible enough. These 6.6 million were robbed of their citizenship, property, and transported to industrialized killing centers in a preplanned methodically executed continental campaign to wipe out a people from existence. This had never happened before, and has not since on such a large scale.

Because these people were murdered specifically because of their religion, and have been victim to smaller yet perpetual atrociities through out history, makes it interesting. How can such a people endure?, yet they do. This is real life drama, and drama is what movie makers are looking for. That is why we see it portrayed so much in film.

Should we see the portrayel of other atrocities, yes we should, and finally we are seeing some. Most recently the atrocities of mass murder are revelaed on screen in the well done "Hotel Rwanda". We still have not seen too much portraying the millions killed in Stalin's assassination machine and Russia is still trying to cope with its murderous recent history. But is it the "conspicuous people's" fault we don't see this in the movies?

I agree any atrocitiy committed on any people is horrible, but to blame the Jews for being the victims of atrocities and monopolizing the media's portrayal of atrocities is the type of behavior that leads to more atrocities. Her views specifically lead to atrocities on Jews. For that reason we need to continue to show what happened to these people and must continue doing so.

So thumbs up for the Devil's Arithmetic

The Devil's Arithmetic
The Devil's Arithmetic:

This is an outstanding visual performance where a Jewish teenager, rather secular indeed, goes against her will and innermost beliefs to celebrate the Passover festivities at an ants' house. Rather discontent with the festivities, she is chosen by traditions to open a door and then she goes into a trip that will change her religious attitudes forever.

She trespasses the limits of time, as inside a time machine, and finds herself immersed into the World War II epoch. She experiences firsthand the atrocities that the Nazis performed on the Jews- and others for that matter- and has first hand understanding of what living in the concentration camps really was about and meant.

As I watched this rather inspiring and educational movie, the only thing that crossed my mind was to pass the DVD to my children so they could learn more vividly and insighfully about the Holocaust, its violence, its murderers, its atrocities, and all its nonsense.

Of course, I have not read the book on which this movie is based, but for starters, I utterly believe it is a great choice.

If you are a Jew, it would be a great idea to pass it to your children, and if you happen not to be a Jew it would also be an extremely educational experience for your children and for all the family.

Highly Recommended!