The Devil's Arithmetic (1999) (TV)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Donna Deitch

Writers (WGA):

Jane Yolen (novel)
Robert J. Avrech (teleplay)

Release Date:

28 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Live to tell

Plot:

This is another telling of the holocaust, but this time from the perspective of a modern teenage girl...

Plot Keywords:

Holocaust | Concentration Camp | WWII | Lifting Person In Air | Based On Novel

Awards:

3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Kirsten Dunst	...	Hannah Stern
Brittany Murphy	...	Rivkah
Paul Freeman	...	Rabbi
Mimi Rogers	...	Leonore Stern
Louise Fletcher	...	Aunt Eva
Lilo Baur	...	Mina
Nitzan Sharron	...	Ariel
Shelly Skandrani	...	Leah
Daniel Brocklebank	...	Shmuel
Kirsty McFarland	...	Yetta
Rachel Roddy	...	Esther
Ieva Jackeviciute	...	Miriam
Philip Rham	...	Commandant Krieger
Daniel Rausch	...	Officer Steinbach
Paulina Soloveicik	...	Sarah

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:12 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-11 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Lithuania

Company:

Lietuvos Kinostudija

Trivia:

By far the most famous and successful movie in which actor Paul Freeman has appeared in his career is Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), in which he plays a French archaeologist who collaborates with the Nazis. In this film, he plays an Orthodox rabbi who is imprisoned in a concentration camp by the Nazis.

Movie Connections:

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

A Rather Good Film

I actually liked this when I saw it on TV. A lot of people probably saw the cut, shorter version on (station named after famous novel written down by Homer, following the Iliad) in the US. But I got to see the whole version, and, after having read the book several times, I can say that it is a very good book. It makes Hannah (or Chaya, in the book) look like the spoiled wild-child that the book did not develop enough, and the other characters were perfect in their roles. The acting was good, the sets were realistic and quaint, and the storyline is historically accurate, as well as to the mark on the book. In short, it's a very good film.