A true story about holocaust survivor Freddie (Knoller) who fled his home town of Vienna from the nazis to search for refuge in England via the Parisian nightlife scene, enduring capture and death camp marches, before being saved by the Ally forces. In UK cinemas from 28 November.
Freddie (Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen) is a young man growing up in Vienna whose family send him to England to escape the persecution of the jews by the nazis. He makes his way as far as Paris and is attracted to the nightlife of the late-night clubs and the dancing girls he was enamoured with growing up. His linguistic skills get him a job in one of the clubs after he befriends the moustachioed maître d’ Christos (Fernando Guallar) who needs his help speaking German to entice the nazi officers into the club; the patrons with plenty of money to spend.
The story reveals more real life characters Freddie met in his survival story. Mrs Huberman (Smadi Wolfman) is the auberge owner who takes him in and shares in his troubles and when he needs false papers to get to England he is introduced to a cafe owner (Stephen Berkoff) offering forged passports at an ever rising price due to the increasing threat of the nazis in the neighbourhood. His perilous situation entertaining the German officers, played here with a charming sinisterness, is highlighted when officer Kurt (Til Schweiger) cruelly toys with Freddie by telling him of his ability to identify a jew through phrenology, and hence begins to feel the back of his head. The examination reduces Freddie to a hyperventilating mess showing more guilt than finding any bumps but he is relieved not to be discovered. Matters become further complicated in his escape as he falls for the lead burlesque dancer Jaqueline (Clara Rugaard) who he invites to dinner to persuade her to come with him.
Director Annabel Jankel brings this true survival story to life showing the juxtaposition between the horrors of the war and the rounding up of the jews against the backdrop of the streets of Paris and the drinking clubs frequented by nazi soldiers. There are frequent flash forwards to when Freddie is a prisoner being taken on a death march in subzero conditions that maintains the threat amongst the champagne and dancing girls. The city surroundings and interiors of Vienna and Paris are rendered in World War II periodic style, whilst the hunting down of escapee prisoners in the woods is shot in vivid darkness. Further factual poignancy is provided at the end in the rolling credits about the survivors and those that were never seen again.
A conspicuously entertaining holocaust war film that provides an astonishing representation that links together the harrowing time, the people there and one charmed survivor’s tale.
Film: Desperate Journey
Director: Annabel Jankel
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller, War
Stars: Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Clara Rugaard, Fernando Guallar
Run time: 1hr 48mins
Rated: TBC
Rating: 3
The Language of Film 