Conference bookie::movies

507.0. "Korczak" by SSDEVO::PEAKS::RICHARD (Diversify Celebrities!) Wed Mar 30 1994 03:01

Korczak is the story of a Jewish doctor who ran an orphanage for Jewish 
children at the time of the German takeover of Poland.  He was urged by
his friends to leave Poland, but chose rather to stay with his children,
first in the Warsaw Ghetto, then on to Treblinka in 1942, where he died with
them in the gas chambers.

This movie, by Polish director Andrzei Wajda, does not dwell on the brutality
of the Nazis so much as on the humanity of Dr. Korczak and his associates.  In
the face of the most inhumane cruelty, he fought for the life and dignity
of children.  His orphanage in the ghetto was an oasis of love in a world of 
increasing insanity.  In another orphanage, in which the staff stole most 
supplies, and children died of disease and starvation, Dr. Korczak requested 
a teaching post so as to be able to lessen the suffering of the children.  He
attempted to establish dying parlors, where those who were dying on the 
streets could at least be afforded some dignity at their end.  Throughout his
time in Warsay, he was a light and an inspiration.

I was very much moved by this movie.  It's a rare director who can bring out
the full horror of the Holocaust without resorting to heavy usage of graphic
violence, and Mr. Wajda has succeeded in doing so.  This is a beautiful film
of great lyrical power, and I highly recommend it for anyone who wishes to
understand more of this most terrible tragedy.

/Mike

    Is this showing in theaters or is it available on video?
    
    Marilyn

    I saw it two years or more ago in a theater. 
    
    I thought it was appallingly TV-movieish for Wajda, with all the good
    guys incredibly good, and all the bad guys incredibly bad.  The doctor
    gets tired once and snaps at someone; whoa, character development!  But
    that's just me.
    
    Ray

    I also found it very moving.  The horror of the holocaust is present
    all around, but Korczak succeeds for a time in creating a refuge for his
    charges.  The ending might have been appallingly sentimental but somehow 
    it works.  
    
    I also saw it in a theatre a couple of years ago.
    
    -Stephen