Fighter

Aroview: A powerfully affecting documentary that juxtaposes two compelling stories: Jan Wiener’s thrilling escape from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to Western Europe, and his return to the Czech Republic in the company of his sardonic friend, Arnost Lustig, to retrace the steps of his earlier journey more than half a century later.

Though Jan revisits the Nazi show-ghetto where his mother was put to death and other painful memories, the film gets its freshness and drama out of the present-day relationship between the two septaugenerians, whose conflicting personalities illustrate alternative strategies for coping with the unimaginable.

NZ International Film Festival 2000

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