Slovakia, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II. The family of the young Jewish Martin Friedmann gathers to celebrate his bar mitzvah and make a solemn promise that they will all meet again a year later around the same table; but the storms of war and anti-Semitic fanaticism will lead each of them down very different paths.
Acting
Spišák's silent transformations crush you
Production
Period detail that feels lived-in, not museum-piece
Director
Jiří Chlumský
Samuel Spišák
Martin
Ina Gogálová
Mrs. Friedmannová
Ondřej Vetchý
Mr. Friedmann
Marián Slovák
Rabbi
Vlado Černý
Doctor Fehér
Ivan Romančík
Shoemaker Feldman
Roman Luknár
Commander Vózar
Peter Oszlík
Vilo
Sergej Sanža
Cézar
Ivan Krivosudský
Old Martin (voice)
Ľubomír Bukový
Móric
Norman Šáro
Šmuel
Daniel Fischer
Alex
Dávid Hartl
Dežo
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Martin Friedmann's actual memoir; he survived Auschwitz and lived to see this adaptation.
Slovakia's WWII government paid Nazi Germany per Jew deported—this film finally confronts that national shame domestically.
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