During World War II, Salamo Arouch, a passionate boxer, is arrested and sent to a concentration camp. Soon, he is forced to box against his fellow prisoners for the sake of entertainment.
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Reviews
Such a frustrating disappointment
Instant Favorite.
Beautiful, moving film.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Somehow, in thinking of the horrors of the Holocaust, thoughts of Greece do not spring readily to mind. And yet, obviously there were Jews in Greece, and many were interned after the Nazis occupied Greece in 1941. "Triumph Of The Spirit" follows the story of Salamo Arouch, a Greek champion boxer who is among those sent to Auschwitz.Arouch's story is interesting. He uses boxing as a way of staying alive - fighting other prisoners for the entertainment of Nazi officers and officials, knowing full well that those he defeats are destined almost certainly for execution - and that the same fate awaited him if he were to lose. The movie is rife with reflection on collaboration. The Sonderkommandos (Jews who actively worked with the Nazis in exchange for privileges which included perhaps a few extra months of life) are front and centre in this, and we see various internees doing various things to placate the Nazis, to earn favour with them - and, in the circumstances, who can blame them. They were uprooted from often comfortable lives and placed almost literally into hell. Defiance might have been the more noble choice, but some form of collaboration was more practical. But the choice was never easy, and consciences were surely wounded as those decisions were made. Arouch was played by Willem Defoe - not my favourite actor, but he handled the part quite well. Some license was taken with his story, as is almost always the case when a story "based on fact" is portrayed, but basically from what I've been able to learn the broad sweep of Arouch's story is told. Really, though, Arouch fades into the background in this - or, at least, he did for me.It was the sheer brutality of Auschwitz and of Nazism that was the engine driving this movie forward. It's a realistic and gripping portrayal of the conditions in the camp - all under the slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" - "work makes free" - the slogan that appeared over the gates entering Auschwitz. It makes what happened inside the camp sound almost noble, but there was nothing noble about the type of work done in Auschwitz, and it had nothing to do with freedom. That was made very clear throughout this film. It was, perhaps, the closest thing to hell that any of the inmates could have possibly imagined. Many died, and those who survived were scarred for life, left empty by the experience. The last scene, I thought, portrayed this quite hauntingly, as Arouch - who survived - wanders lost and aimless away from the camp after liberation, not knowing where he was going or what he would find. His story has a "happy" ending filled with marriage and children and grandchildren, but how happy could it have really been, all things considered.This isn't the best movie about the Holocaust ever made, but it is one that stays with the viewer, and it's one that provides a gripping portrayal of life inside perhaps the most notorious of the Nazi concentration camps. (8/10)
Let us face it, holocaust surrounding second world war and the Nazi torture of Jews have become a thoroughly over-explored topic. Done to death, yes, but this movie came out in 1989! There was no Schindler's List, no Sorstalanság, no Boy in Striped Pyjama or Life is Beautiful... hell, even Europa Europa or the Last Butterfly released after this movie!So, Triumph of the Spirit could easily have been a reference material for many a modern classic on holocaust. Even when seen as a standalone movie without the predecessors or successors, this is a good movie. The story is based on true incidents, hence it is quite interesting; historically - almost accurate and direction wise - at par with the best. Most of the characters had been explored richly and the cause- effect relationship behind every sub-plot is quite pronounced. The movie never borders on obscurity, yet ends it with a depth that is so often lacking in movies based on real life. Performance wise Willem Dafoe and Robert Loggia stands out magnificently. Everyone else does their bit to perfection... no hiccups in acting. Sometimes, a bit of production value is missing that we are so used to these days. (Like in the air-raid scene towards the end, any typical Hollywood movie these days would have wonderful SFX showing allied aircrafts and what not... but here it was just the sound Foley and a bit of pyrotechnic... quite old school but very effective).If you are a true movie buff and looking forward to relive the 80s style of movie production, go for it. You won't be disappointed.
Just finished seeing Triumph of the Spirit. What a sad, bleak, dark, and depressing film.This was based on the true story of Greek Balkins Middleweight Champion Salamo Arouch who was undefeated before World War II. Once the Nazi army invades Greece, Arouch, his entire family, and all the Jews in Greece are shipped off to the Nazi death camp in Austwitz.With-in moments, all the women in Arouch's family are murdered in the gas showers. He is forced with his family and brother to work at slave-labor. Arouch is brutalized by a camp Kapo who happens to be a professional boxer as well. In a brutal scene, Arouch and the Kapo have a fist fight with Arouch scoring a knockout and a Nazi camp guard finishes off the Kapo with a gun shot to the head. Arouch is then forced to box in the camp for the Nazi officers who bet on the "boxing" matches. Only problem, the losing boxer ends up the "chimney stack". A heart-wrenching and brutal story. Shocking to realize that not only did the Nazi murder, torture, starve and kill the inmates at Auswitz, but they also forced all the professional Jewish boxers to put on "Galdiator" matches for their entertainment.The Triumph of The Spirt is a triumph of film-making. A very depressing one at that.
this is by far one of the best movies on the holocaust i've seen. what makes this different from the rest is that it focuses on greek jews, aka "gypsies" in the concentration camps. this story is based on fact. it's about the life of Salamo Arouch, who was a boxer before the war and boxing is part of what helped him survive. a wonderful story of how one man's love for his family and friends, and his own fierce spirit, allowed him to overcome the atrocities at hand and live to tell his story...one that inspires all who see it.