David (film)
Encyclopedia
David is a 1979 West German film by director Peter Lilienthal
Peter Lilienthal
Peter Lilienthal is a German film director, writer, actor and producer. His 1979 film David won the Golden Bear at the 29th Berlin International Film Festival. His 1984 film Das Autogramm was entered into the 34th Berlin International Film Festival.-Filmography:*1958 – Studie 23. *1959 – Im...

. It tells the story of a rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

's son in Germany during the Holocaust, who tries to raise money to escape to Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine existed while the British Mandate for Palestine, which formally began in September 1923 and terminated in May 1948, was in effect...

.

Summary

David follows an adolescent Jewish boy, David Singer, who comes of age in Nazi Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. The film reveals the struggles for identity and survival that often overlapped among the Jews of war-torn Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, particularly the young.

“Father says we must be proud of being Jewish, especially now,” David tells his brother Leo, who tries to camouflage his Jewish identity by wearing a Nazi uniform. But the yellow star that David and his fellow Jews are forced to wear is not a mark of Jewish pride. When Jews’ essential identity became a death sentence in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

, its value was called into question for so many Jews who endured the Holocaust.

The film reveals the unfolding and progression of the war against the Jews in Germany, as seen from the limited perspective of one young boy. As he navigates through dangerous streets and railway cars, we observe with him the effects of Hitler’s policies on daily life in Berlin and on relations between Jews and non-Jews. Together with David, we witness the gradual but steady removal of the city’s Jews.

The film opens in pre-War Germany, depicting the young protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

’s experience of the rampant anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...

 that would soon grow into the Holocaust. In the first scene, young David is harassed by a group of German schoolchildren who beat him and taunt him with the words “Jew pig.” Later, a communal celebration of Purim
Purim
Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...

 — the Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jews of ancient Persia from extermination — foreshadows the impending war. David’s father, the congregation rabbi, delivers a sermon that describes the attempted annihilation of the Purim story, a grim portent of what is to come. But the scene is a case of dramatic irony: Rabbi Singer is not aware of, or does not want to acknowledge, the relevance of his own words to the situation in early Nazi Germany. When, in the middle of the celebration, a group of Germans march by the synagogue chanting “Jews get out, Jews get out,” he insists that they are in fact only calling out to the city’s youth, that their chant is actually: “Youth come out, youth come out.”

The film is particularly compelling in its depiction of the intimate space of the Singer family and their interactions with one another — marked by love, devotion and the all-too-real fear of imminent loss and separation. When the rabbi is forced to watch his synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

 set aflame by the Nazis, and returns home with a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

 emblazoned on his head, he insists that the important thing is that the family is alive and together.

Awards

In 1979 David won three awards at the 29th Berlin International Film Festival
29th Berlin International Film Festival
The 29th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 20 to March 3, 1979.-Jury:* Julie Christie* Romain Gary* Ingrid Caven* Georg Alexander* Liliana Cavani* Jörn Donner* Paul Bartel* Pál Gábor-Films in competition:...

:
  • Golden Bear
    Golden Bear
    According to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....

     - Peter Lilienthal
  • Interfilm Award - Peter Lilienthal
  • OCIC Award - Peter Lilenthal


The same year, David won two awards at the German Film Awards:
  • Outstanding Individual Achievement- Walter Taub
  • Outstanding Feature Film- David

Cast

  • Mario Fischel
    Mario Fischel
    Mario Fischel is a German actor. He had a part in the movie David as the main character, David.-References:...

     ... David Singer
  • Walter Taub ... Rabbi Singer
  • Irena Vrkljan ... Frau Singer - David's Mother
  • Eva Mattes
    Eva Mattes
    Eva Mattes is a German-Austrian actress.Mattes appeared in four films directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and A Man Called Eva , as a bearded film director based on the then recently deceased Fassbinder...

     ... Toni
  • Dominique Horwitz ... Leo Singer
  • Torsten Henties ... David as child
  • Gustav Rudolf Sellner ... Dr. Grell (as Rudolph Sellner)
  • Erik Jelde  (as Eric Jelde)
  • Nikolaus Dutsch ... Kohn
  • Sabine Andreas ... Rifka
  • Buddy Elias
  • Golda Tencer
  • Vladimir Weigl  (as Vladimir Weigel)
  • Hanns Zischler  (as Johann Zischler)

Reception

David was praised for its recreation of war-time Germany and its tendency towards understatement. The horrors of the Holocaust speak for themselves, not requiring overzealous emotionality from the actors or direction.

See also


External links

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