Product Details

• Actors: Kirsten Dunst, Brittany Murphy, Paul Freeman, Mimi Rogers, Louise Fletcher
• Directors: Donna Deitch
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Showtime Entertainment
• VHS Release Date: January 9, 2001
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 192973221X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,827 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Executive producers Dustin Hoffman and Mimi Rogers present the truth of the Holocaust so a new generation can understand why it must never be forgotten. Kirsten Dunst plays Hannah, a modern teen more concerned with trends than history. During the traditional Passover dinner, she zones out as her relatives harp about concentration camps. But then Hannah passes through a portal to the past, where she becomes her own ancestor in Poland during the Nazi persecution of the Jews.

Director Donna Deitch provides an infinite library of Holocaust detail, re-creating the period with minute dedication. Haunting images, every costume, every hair, every light and shadow conspire to maintain a sense of desolate desperation. Suspense pervades as escapes fail and mothers with newborns are taken away. Only the magical context of the story, taken from the original children's novel by Jane Yolen, allows for a life-affirming ending. The performances may not be multifaceted but, considering the single-mindedness of the tale, the deep commitment of the actors makes every moment real and meaningful. Dunst seems able to carry a movie herself, and Brittany Murphy is mesmerizing as Hannah's sweet cousin Rivkah.

The message is powerfully direct, but the film avoids extreme violence in deference to young audiences. The theme is enshrined in the Rivkah's words: "We must stay alive to tell everyone what we've been through." Indeed, when Hannah returns to the present, she is a new woman, with a profound love of her culture and a religious respect for the value of all human life. --Lloyd Chesley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Horror of the Holocaust ...for teenagers.", January 12, 2001

By	Jerry Parks "USAToday All-American Teacher; N... (Lexington, KY USA) - See all my reviews

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.

103 of 109 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No matter where you go, there you are, April 13, 2000

By	Kayla Rigney (USA) - See all my reviews

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.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Horrid story, told incredibly well, April 19, 2001

By	Rebekah Sue Harris (West Haven, CT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.