Hard Truths: 'Fugitive Pieces' and 'Standard Operating Procedure' Examine Grim History

Cunneen, Joseph, Doherty, Kevin, National Catholic Reporter

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Fugitive Pieces, a new Holocaust survival film, shows the difficulties of adapting a deeply poetic novel to the screen. Anne Michaels, a Canadian, was already an established poet when she wrote the book. The movie's strongest moments come when it quotes its characters directly or in voiceover narration. Ultimately, director Jeremy Podeswa gives us only tempting peeks into the density and depth of the novel's language and emotions.

The story centers on Jakob Beer (Stephen Dillane), who as a 9-year-old Polish Jew during World War II witnesses the murder of his parents and the abduction of his beloved sister, Bella, by the Gestapo. Hiding in the woods, he is near-miraculously saved by a Greek archaeologist, Athos Roussos …

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Publication information: Article title: Hard Truths: 'Fugitive Pieces' and 'Standard Operating Procedure' Examine Grim History. Contributors: Cunneen, Joseph - Author, Doherty, Kevin - Author. Magazine title: National Catholic Reporter. Volume: 44. Issue: 19 Publication date: May 16, 2008. Page number: 21. © 2009 National Catholic Reporter. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale Group.

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