Customer Reviews

Essential Art House: Kapo

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the rare films to show the effect of torture and death in the Nazi camps to destroy an individual's moral compass. A Kapo is a prison trustee and the heroine of this tale - Edith (a 14 year old Jewish girl) becomes a Kapo in her desperate effort to do anything - ANYTHING - to survive. It begins when she sexually services a German soldier. Later she takes on the identity of a non-Jewish prisoner, and finally she becomes one of the Kapos - those prisoners who enforce the rules of the Nazis against the other Jews. Alas, that is the reality of the Kapos, and that reality is rarely depicted in the films of the camps. The descent into moral madness is shown - and it is not a pretty experience. The camps were brutal and the pressures are unimaginable to us today. The movie is a valuable addition to the film record of the Holocaust. Another movie about the process of moral degradation is "The Counterfeiters" but it does not depict the horrors as graphically as "Kapo."
Possibly one of the most realistic holocaust films - other than the documentaries - is "The Grey Zone." These are not easy films to watch...so space them out.

Gillo Pontecorvo, who also made "The Battle of Algiers," gives us the only kind of movie that treats the Holocaust respectfully and responsibly: in order to survive, a Jewish girl (almost?) sells her soul by assuming another person's identity and becoming a concentration camp guard. Excellent cinematography and authentic moral complexity.

Criterion recently released legendary Italian director, Gillo Pontecorvo's "Kapo" (1959) to DVD.

In the film, doe-eyed Susan Strasberg plays Edith, a lovely, young Jewish girl transported to a Nazi German concentration camp in Poland who takes on a new identity in order to survive, eventually becoming a "kapo," a Funktionshäftling or "prisoner functionary." Strasberg worked on this film immediately after being inexplicably passed over for the movie version of "The Diary of Anne Frank" following her Tony-nominated Broadway portrayal. Her work in "Kapo" as the conflicted "Nicole" is excellent.

As the Red Army advances steadily towards the camp the prisoners wildly anticipate their liberation. A few of the Soviet soldiers are captured by the Germans and interned in the camp, providing impetus for the film's dramatic ending. Pontecorvo, an Italian communist, depicts the Soviets in what can only be described as a highly idealistic manner while history tells us that the Red Army and NKVD often rivaled the Nazis in apportioning death and misery.

"Kapo," one of the very first films to treat the horrors of the Holocaust in a realistic fashion, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1961 as Best Foreign Film. The cinematography of Aleksandar Sekulovic is outstanding. Director Pontecorvo went on to direct the controversial masterpiece, "The Battle of Algiers," in 1966.

But buy this movie for Strasberg, a beautiful and talented actress who never got her due.

I have to admit I was not familiar with "Kapo" at all, perhaps because it had never been released by 'The Criterion Collection', but under the 'Janus Films' label. I was totally blown away by this movie, and not just by its scale - the numbers of extras, the sets and its epic scope - but also by its focus on individual personalites and relationships. I felt a similar power from this film as I did from Jean Renoir's "Grand Illusion." This is a brilliant, devastating portrait of life in a Nazi prison camp and the physical, moral and spiritual sacrifices people make in attempting to maintain their sanity and to survive in a surreal, nightmarish world of chaos and death. Susan Strasberg and the entire cast, the direction, the cinematography and the score are absolutely first-rate. This is not a movie for casual viewing - it is a harrowing, unforgettable glimpse of hell - of being a victim of the Nazi 'cleansing' of Europe during World War II. You must see this film!

Kapo is one of the first films to tell us about what Hitler's people did to their victems in the camps. I have for years been eager to see it but had not the chance since it is not an American film but when I learned it was available, I purchased a copy of the DVD.

I must confess that I am astonished at how much truths that this film has put into it. True, there are some mistakes. It shows the SS rounding up Jews, when in truth it was local Police, in france, in holland, in belgium and other countries, who did the dirty work for the murderers. It mistakenly identifies the Black Triangle as the identification of criminals when in truth that symbol is the Green Triangle. Black Triangles were for 'Asocials' who were a catch all for: Drug Addicts, Prostitutes, Work Shy and other Deviants the nazis had no easy way to classify. Most of the SS uniforms are depiected wrong as anyone who has any number of books on SS uniforms or student of history can see. There are other mistakes too but for all intense and purpose, this is one of the most accurate depictions of KZ inmate life I have seen. I have seen quite a few, Escape From Sobibor, The Grey Zone which is Graphic and Brutal, The Hiding Place which is set in Ravensbruch, which like the Pianist are not for the faint hearted.

What astonishes me is that though the ending is a bit corny, the portrayal of the main character as one of the collaborators with some sympathy is unusual. It begins with the naive tender young Edith who finding herself in this hell, she vows to survive regardless of what she has to do. Assuming the identity of petty thief Nicola she truly turns. That she steals food from other inmates. Her prostituting herself to the guards. Finally, she becomes one of the inmate enforcers employed by the Camps. Her friendship with Karl the crippled SS guard, an honest man who clearly does not like where he is and refuses to compromise his morals like other ss men, would rather serve on the Front as a soldier rather than stay in the relatively safe camps as a guard, is quite interesting. Her relationship with Sascha, the brave Russian soldier, prisoner of the Germans but refuses to give up to his fate, who redeams her away from her brutal SS masters, on the other hand is somewhat forced and difficult to understand. That for all the years she has suffered through that she would sacrifice herself for the inmates who hate her is really hard to believe.

Overall, this is certainly not a film to watch for entertainment, this is a great film for understanding what happened in the KZ camps during the Holocaust.

This is a serious movie. It is often depressing, but that's when you have to deal with your own preconceived values and judgments. Simply, this is a story of survival in a Nazi concentration camp and the choices one makes to survive. No grand saviors here, just down-to-earth people making everyday life-or-death decisions. Well-acted, realistic settings and characters. Important pre-Battle of Algiers movie for Pontecorvo buffs.

Gillo Pontecorvo's (The Battle of Algiers)1959 feature Kapo is one of those films that was almost great. For the first two thirds of the film it is a compelling portrait of life in a women's concentration camp. The problem is that for its final third it becomes a pretty conventional love story.

Pontecorvo was famous for giving his films a documentary feel and Kapo is no exception. Using blown out black and white photography, cinematographer Alexsander Sekulovic makes the viewer feel like he or she is experiencing history as it unfolds.

Edith (Susan Strasberg) is a normal fourteen year old living in Paris when her family is taken by the Nazis and deported to a work camp where she is separated from her family and forced to struggle to survive. With the help of a friendly doctor she is given a new identity. As life in the camp becomes more brutal she accepts the position of Kapo in order to receive better treatment and rations losing her dignity in the process. When some Russinn soldiers enter the camp the film enters its weakest third. The film becomes a love story with an ending that is a little too contrived.

This is a bare bones disc but well worth a viewing.