Customer Reviews

Haven

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

 

 

This film is a somewhat idealized and liberally adapted dramatization of a WWII event that was sadly unique: The transportation in 1944 of 892 Jewish refugees from the Holocaust to the United States -- the only ones allowed on U.S. soil throughout the War. They were sheltered at Fort Ontario, Oswego, NY for the rest of the war. Eventually, they were allowed to immigrate under the various immigration quotas. I happen to be one of the lucky individuals in that shipment. And although I can say that the story is less than 100 percent accurate, the film is very successful in its presentation and impact.

Starring as Ruth Gruber, the overseer of the project, is Natasha Richardson, delivering her lines in an amazingly authentic Brooklyn accent characteristic of Gruber, no small achievement for an English actress. Anne Bancroft and Martin Landau play her parents and William Petersen and Hal Holbrook play US congressmen.

The 3-hour-plus film is loaded with drama and tension and holds together very admirably. Most notably, the film gives the viewer an intriguing snapshot of America in the midst of the war and the attitudes of her people toward refugees. I might add that it also gives an equally graphic picture of the refugees' impressions of America and Americans.

Excellently done! We have no idea what so many people went through as they sought to live to the end of WWII.

an incredible story about a very brave young woman who is one of the many "footnotes" in history whose story has come to light. I had the delightful experience of meeting the real "star" at the young age of 90 plus. Talk about spunky. Harry Truman had to love this lady. A movie worth watching- make sure you order the correct "Haven"- now I have two. Definitely a "must see"---------

Like was noted in another review, this is indeed a somewhat liberal adaptation of Ruth Gruber's book of the same name. It gets some things wrong (the lover in Berlin is never mentioned in her book, plus in reality some of the refugees were Christians), but it gets many things right. It certainly does capture the red tape and politics involved in saving these few when the US could certainly have saved many more, the suspicions of the Americans on the SS Henry Gibbons and in Oswego, the suffering the refugees had to endure in Europe. Guber's experiences clearly forced her to examine more fully what it meant for her to be a Jew, and it changed her life. But what really makes this worth watching are the performances by an absolutely terrific cast, some of whom are no longer with us. Richardson is terrific, and I only hope that Guber, who seems to be an absolute pistol well into her 90s, was satisfied by the portrayal.

The movie is not historically accurate and feels like some kind of one-sided propaganda.It seems like the story is really told from a Jewish perspective.The story of the people is sad but the theme is the same and the plot of the story is actually a bit tedious to handle for too long.