The Survivor

 

The Survivor 2021

• Director: Barry Levinson
• Seen by this director: Liberty Heights, Sphere, Rain Man, Good Morning Vietnam
• Based on book by Alan Haft
• Cast: Ben Foster, Billy Magnussen, Vicky Krieps, Peter Sarsgaard, Dar Zuzovsky
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Ben Foster – The Mechanic, X-Men, Six Feet Under, Liberty Heights
• Billy Magnussen – No Time to Die, Into the Woods, The Leftovers
• Vicky Krieps – Corsage, Old, Colonia, Hanna
• Peter Sarsgaard – An Education, Elegy, Jarhead, Stephen Glass, Dead Man Walking
• Why? Possibly interesting
• Seen: 18 January 2025      

       Harry Haft (Foster) survives Auschwitz by boxing against other prisoners to entertain the Nazi officers. Those who lose against him are shot.

       After the war, in the US, he boxes to get his name in the paper, hoping that his beloved Leah (Zuzovsky) is alive and will find him. His memories haunt him and other Jews hate him.

       It’s about a boxer so there has to be a lot of boxing in the film, which does not interest me. It’s other parts of the film that are gripping and heavily emotional. Unfortunately it slides too often into the Hallmarkish. A pity.

       True story. Based on.      

 3* of 5