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A young man, separated from his family in WWII, disguises himself as a Nazi SS Officer and uncovers more than just his family whereabouts.
This week I had the privilege of watching two war movies which told two completely different stories. “The Promise,” set during World War I, told the story of the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Empire in 1915, a moment in time I was not very familiar with (you can read my review of that film here), and then “Walking with the Enemy,” set during World War II, which told the true story of Pinchas Tibor Rosenbaum, a Hungarian Jew who after being separated from his family, dressed up as Nazi SS officer and helped save thousands of his fellow Jews. The world is all-too-familiar with “Schindler’s List,” Spielberg’s long-gestating and very personal narrative about Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist, spy, and member of the Nazi Party who by the end of World War II, saved the lives of more than 1,200 Jews but without it, I doubt we would have seen the influx in other similar stories such as “In Darkness,” “Black Book,” “Train of Life,” and “The Pianist.” “Walking with the Enemy,” tells the story of one man’s efforts to save his own people, relying on his fellow countrymen instead of German counterparts.
Towards the end of World War II, Hitler begins to have misgivings about Hungary’s loyalty to Germany. Regent Horthy (Ben Kingsley) is put in a very precarious situation, trying to navigate his country and its citizens between the growing concern that is Germany, and the uncertainty of Communist Russia. When the Nazis threaten to kill his son if he doesn’t relinquish power to them, he does so, albeit reluctantly, and this sets into motion, the Nazis’ sole agenda, to rid the country of all Jews. The people initially refuse to believe that the Nazis would ever pose a threat to them but they quickly discover the truth, and in doing so, many of them are forced underground, and for those unlucky enough to escape, they are thrown into ghettos. When Elek (Jonas Armstrong), a Hungarian Jew, and a friend manage to escape from the city, they make their way back home to their small village but soon discover that their families, and every Jew throughout town, has either been taken away or executed. Elek and a band of Jews who are hiding underground, take it upon themselves to dress up in high-ranking Nazi uniforms which they managed to acquire, and in the process, over time, are able to divert Jews on their way to concentration camps, or death squads, by producing phony documents which state they are to be spared for other responsibilities, away from town.
Much like Oskar Schindler, who saved the lives of many Jews by stating that they were necessary to help the German war effort, Elek’s plan follows the same route, lying to the Germans about the fate of the Jews, and the fact that he can speak fluent German, helps him save thousands of lives. Not knowing if his family managed to escape or if they were murdered, that uncertainty is what drives him to want to save as many lives as humanly possible. Unbeknownst to him at the time, his family actually perished in Auschwitz. Although Ben Kingsley is the big name here, sadly, he only appears in the film for about 15 minutes. The entire cast is uniformly excellent but the shining star is fellow Irish actor Jonas Armstrong, who embodies the character of Elek with such passion and intensity, when some of the Jews he is trying to rescue, perish at the hands of trigger-happy Nazis, looking at him trying to stay in character, so as not to give in to hatred and anger, thereby possibly blowing his cover, is almost impossible to watch, yet you cannot turn away. He brings genuine warmth and compassion to a character who given his immediate surroundings, could have easily gone the other way but instead, he uses his talents to help save lives, instead of taking them. While “Walking with the Enemy” encompasses character arcs and story narratives we have seen many times before, occasionally, it is still a very hard movie to watch, and it serves as a reminder in this day and age that while we are not technically “at war,” thinking it could never happen to us, is usually when the ground falls out from underneath our feet.
Now available on DVD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
This is a terrible film ,based on real events ,it actually make them look like cheap fiction ,some achievement.No idea what Ben Kingsley is doing in this drivel ,he must have done his scenes then forgot all about it.Sadly anyone who has witnessed this will not be able to do likewise for a long time.