And the Violins Stopped Playing (1988) Directed by Alexander Ramati
Drama / War
aka: I skrzypce przestaly grac
Film Review
Like Tony Gatlif's recent Liberté (2010),
And the Violins Stopped Playing
provides a sobering reminder that Jews were not the only victims of the
Nazi Holocaust during WWII. Half a million gypsies also died as
part of Hitler's purification programme, either gassed in the death
camps or else butchered on the roads in their attempt to evade
capture. Alexander Ramati's adaptation of his best selling
novel is a profoundly moving film that does not shy away from the
supreme horrors of the Holocaust, including Josef Mengele's appalling
experiments on children and the traumas experienced by individuals as
they see their families decimated by illness or Nazi brutality.
The film has its flaws - some of the characters are little more than
caricatures and there is a slight tendency for
over-sentimentalisation. However, such is the power of the story
it tells that it is hard not to be overwhelmed by it and to feel
genuine anguish for the gypsy protagonists as their world is slowly
torn apart by the actions of one of the most evil regimes to have ever
disgraced our world. There is a strong central performance
from the German actor Horst Buchholz who, in addition to his star-making roles in
The Magnificent Seven (1960) and
One, Two, Three (1961),
lent his talents to a number of interesting, albeit less well-known, European films
such as L'Astragale (1969)
and Le Sauveur (1971).
Closely based on real events, And the Violins Stopped Playing is
an essential visual record of humanity's darkest hour, as well as an
effective plea for the gypsies of our own time to be treated with
greater tolerance and understanding.
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Film Synopsis
Poland, 1942. Dymitr Mirga is a Romani gypsy whose skills as a
violin player are very much appreciated by German officers. But
when he learns that Polish Jews have been cleared from the ghettos,
Dymitr suspects that the gypsies will be the Nazis' next target.
Fearful of what may lie ahead, he urges his leader to order an
evacuation to Hungary, a country that has so far avoided the scourge of
Nazi occupation. When the leader refuses, Dymitr is elected as
his replacement as soon as the threat to the community has become
evident. The gypsies take to the road, but some go their own way,
only to be caught and massacred by German soldiers. After an
arduous journey across Poland, Dymitr and his family finally reach the
sanctuary of Hungary, just before the Nazis invade. Captured by
the Germans, they soon find themselves in the Auschwitz concentration camp, where
unspeakable horrors await them...
Cast:Horst Buchholz (Dymitr Mirga),
Didi Ramati (Wala Mirga),
Piotr Polk (Roman Mirga),
Maya Ramati (Zoya Natkin),
Kasia Siwak (Mara Mirga),
Marne Maitland (Sandu Mirga),
Bettine Milne (Rosa Mirga),
Aldona Grochal (Wala's Sister),
Wieslaw Wójcik (Bora Natkin),
Ernestyna Winnicka (Zoya's mother),
Marcin Tronski (Dr. Josef Mengele),
Jan Machulski (Col. Krüger),
Zitto Kazann (Mikita),
Wojciech Pastuszko (Koro, Mikita's son),
Jacek Sas-Uhrynowski (Pawel, Romans friend),
Aleksander Bardini (Greczko Szura),
Marek Barbasiewicz (Count Paszkowski),
Jerzy Nowak (Prof. Epstein),
Wladyslaw Komar (Dombrowski),
Wiktor Zborowski (Tomasz)
Country: Poland / USA
Language: English
Support: Color
Runtime: 116 min
Aka:I skrzypce przestaly grac
Continental Films, quality cinema under the Nazi Occupation
At the time of the Nazi Occupation of France during WWII, the German-run company Continental produced some of the finest films made in France in the 1940s.
A wave of fresh talent in the late 1950s, early 1960s brought about a dramatic renaissance in French cinema, placing the auteur at the core of France's 7th art.
It was American film noir and pulp fiction that kick-started the craze for thrillers in 1950s France and made it one of the most popular and enduring genres.