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In a film about the Nazi Holocaust with a title the likes of
Triumph of the Spirit, you might expect some sort of
prison camp Spartacus
or Braveheart, or possibly even a Rudy.
But there’s really no triumphing of any spirits in Triumph
of the Spirit. Nothing against Salamo Arouch, the real character
upon whom this story was created and who clearly went through
a lot, but the story just doesn’t bring out the courage,
heroism, etc. that we might expect.
Triumph of the Spirit is a simple story that follows
Salamo (William Dafoe) through his experiences at Auschwitz. It
also follows the experiences of his girlfriend, Allegra (Wendy
Gazelle). Triumph is largely an episodic film which carries us
through the whole Jewish experience. We move quickly through the
ghettos to the trains to the sorting lines and into the various
trials and horrors of the camp.
Triumph of the Spirit is almost a documentary. It is
far more concerned about telling us what Auschwitz was like than
telling a story. The little pieces of story we get are side stories,
such as Salamo’s struggling to keep his father alive or
Salamo’s boxing matches that are put on for the amusement
of the guards. The story never develops any characters, themes
or ideas; it seems like it's there simply for a context in which
to talk about the Jewish experience.
The film as a depiction of the Holocaust, however, is really fairly
well done. We get a pretty good picture of all the major aspects
of the event while simultaneously getting lots of smaller bits
as well. The anxiety at the health check-up, the glossing of the
lips with blood to look healthier, the work and hunger, and the
struggle to survive all are fairly well captured.
Basically, Triumph of the Spirit is more of a history
book than a novel. That’s perfectly fine – and it’s
interesting for its historical aspects. But it really felt like
this story had a lot of potential to be something powerful. Maybe
it’s the way it is because that’s the way it really
happened. But even still, it could have been made a whole lot
more interesting to watch.
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