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The emotionally fragile Melanie Winters (Susan Sarandon) invites an elderly man, Jakob Bronski (Max von Sydow), to spend time at her Canadian farm with her husband David (Christopher Plummer), son Benjamin (Roy Dupuis), and grandson Timmy (Dakota Goyo). What Melanie didn't expect was that Bronski would bring along Christopher Lewis (Gabriel Byrne).
The American Melanie and Christopher from Ireland had been captured as children without their parents and Bronski had taken care of them at Drancy, a German internment camp outside of Paris during World War II. He'd encouraged them to keep records of the events at the camp so that it would be known and no one could ever forget.
Ultimately, Bronski had made the sacrifice to save the children; he'd offered up himself to be shipped to Auschwitz instead of them. Afterward, he'd spent years in a Russian mental institution where he'd had electroshock and had lost many memories from the time in the camp.
The experience of having these three people together after 45 years helps explain Melanie's decades of depression and mental breakdowns, and rekindles the love Melanie and Christopher had for each other. A powerful story with haunting music and cinematography.
Based on the novel Emotional Arithmetic by Matt Cohen. Directed by Paolo Barzman.
Run time: 1 hour, 39 minutes
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and brief strong language.
My personal rating: B-
Closure
The emotionally fragile Melanie Winters (Susan Sarandon) invites an elderly man, Jakob Bronski (Max von Sydow), to spend time at her Canadian farm with her husband David (Christopher Plummer), son Benjamin (Roy Dupuis), and grandson Timmy (Dakota Goyo). What Melanie didn't expect was that Bronski would bring along Christopher Lewis (Gabriel Byrne).
The American Melanie and Christopher from Ireland had been captured as children without their parents and Bronski had taken care of them at Drancy, a German internment camp outside of Paris during World War II. He'd encouraged them to keep records of the events at the camp so that it would be known and no one could ever forget.
Ultimately, Bronski had made the sacrifice to save the children; he'd offered up himself to be shipped to Auschwitz instead of them. Afterward, he'd spent years in a Russian mental institution where he'd had electroshock and had lost many memories from the time in the camp.
The experience of having these three people together after 45 years helps explain Melanie's decades of depression and mental breakdowns, and rekindles the love Melanie and Christopher had for each other. A powerful story with haunting music and cinematography.
Based on the novel Emotional Arithmetic by Matt Cohen. Directed by Paolo Barzman.
Run time: 1 hour, 39 minutes
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and brief strong language.
My personal rating: B-
