Triumph of the Spirit
Encyclopedia
Triumph of the Spirit is a 1989
American film directed by Robert M. Young and starring Willem Dafoe
and Edward James Olmos
. The majority of the film is set in the death camp at Auschwitz during the Holocaust and details how the Jewish boxer Salamo Arouch
was forces to fight other internees to the death for the SS
guards' entertainment. Prior to Triumph of the Spirit, no major feature film had ever been shot on location at Auschwitz.
in Thessaloniki
, Greece
, Salamo Arouch
's passion is boxing. Captured along with his family and fiance Allegra in 1943 and interned in Auschwitz, Arouch is used by his SS captors as entertainment, forced to box against fellow prisoners. He knows that if he refuses, his family will be punished; if he wins, he will be given extra rations which he can share with them; if he loses, he will be sent to the gas chamber
. As his family and friends die around him, he has only his love of Allegra and his grim determination to keep him alive.
The film follows the early life story of Salamo Arouch, though it takes some artistic liberties including the early introduction of wife Allegra (a pseudonym for Marta Yechiel), whom Arouch did not actually meet until after the liberation of the camp.
given the condition of those that remain. The film also shot briefly in Israel
.
praised the performances of Dafoe ("harrowingly good") and Robert Loggia
("a memorably physical performance"), but complained that the film overall is "thoroughly mundane", obvious and sentimental, also singling out for criticism the "outstandingly intrusive score". Also taking note of the "intrusive score", Rolling Stone
found all of the cast melodrama
tic with the exception of Dafoe's "disciplined performance" and dismissed the film as "earnest but woefully misguided". Time Magazine noted that the film "is too respectful of its subject to find more in it than noble cliches", highlighting Young's "bland direction" and concluding that "[t]he film's only and considerable virtue lies in its documentation of the desperate strategies people devised to stay alive in the death camps." Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
felt that, by showcasing the fights and expecting viewers to root for Arouch, the filmmakers in effect force audiences to behave no differently than the Nazis in the story. The 2005 book Projecting the Holocaust Into the Present, though acknowledging the generally negative critical reviews, opines that "Young's depiction of the ethical vacuum that the Nazis devised at Auschwitz makes the movie disturbing and effective."
1989 in film
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American film directed by Robert M. Young and starring Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
and Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos
Edward James Olmos is an American actor and director. Among his most memorable roles are William Adama in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, Lt...
. The majority of the film is set in the death camp at Auschwitz during the Holocaust and details how the Jewish boxer Salamo Arouch
Salamo Arouch
Salamo Arouch was a Jewish Greek boxer who survived the Holocaust by entertaining Nazi officers in Auschwitz with his boxing skills. His story was portrayed in the 1989 film Triumph of the Spirit.-Biography:...
was forces to fight other internees to the death for the SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
guards' entertainment. Prior to Triumph of the Spirit, no major feature film had ever been shot on location at Auschwitz.
Plot
A stevedoreStevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Salamo Arouch
Salamo Arouch
Salamo Arouch was a Jewish Greek boxer who survived the Holocaust by entertaining Nazi officers in Auschwitz with his boxing skills. His story was portrayed in the 1989 film Triumph of the Spirit.-Biography:...
's passion is boxing. Captured along with his family and fiance Allegra in 1943 and interned in Auschwitz, Arouch is used by his SS captors as entertainment, forced to box against fellow prisoners. He knows that if he refuses, his family will be punished; if he wins, he will be given extra rations which he can share with them; if he loses, he will be sent to the gas chamber
Gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
. As his family and friends die around him, he has only his love of Allegra and his grim determination to keep him alive.
The film follows the early life story of Salamo Arouch, though it takes some artistic liberties including the early introduction of wife Allegra (a pseudonym for Marta Yechiel), whom Arouch did not actually meet until after the liberation of the camp.
Production
Young was reluctant to make the film when he was first approached with the script, finding the topic too momentous to cover; he only agreed to direct when provided a script that focused only on one small element, "like a cork, bubbling on the surface of the sea." The film, which positions Arouch as a witness to the horrors of the Holocaust, was shot on a budget of US $12 million dollars. Filming with permission at Auschwitz-Birkenau, producers were able to utilize some existing structures but were also tasked with recreating a crematoryCrematory
A crematory is a machine in which cremation takes place. Crematories are usually found in funeral homes, cemeteries, or in stand-alone facilities. A facility which houses the actual cremator units is referred to as a crematorium.-History:Prior to the Industrial Revolution, any cremation which took...
given the condition of those that remain. The film also shot briefly in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Theme
The title of the film is suggestive of human triumph, a view to which star Dafoe subscribed, but others, including actor Olmos perceived its impact differently: "[W]hat does...[the film] project? The moral decay needed to survive in the camp." Lawrence Baron, the author of 2005's Projecting the Holocaust Into the Present, agreed, stating that "the cumulative impression...undermines whatever uplifting impact its title and publicity imply.... A closer scrutiny of the movie reveals that it is not about the triumph of the spirit but rather about 'choiceless choices', to use Lawrence Langer's term for the dilemma faced by death camp inmates, who were never offered any moral alternatives to prolong their survival." Baron suggests that this message is crystallized in one scene where Arouch is set to fight his best friend Jacko, who has already been beaten by the guards, knowing that the loser will be consigned to the gas chamber; when he balks, his friend is executed on the spot.Critical reception
In its review, The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
praised the performances of Dafoe ("harrowingly good") and Robert Loggia
Robert Loggia
Robert Loggia is an American film and television actor and director.- Early life :Loggia, an Italian American, was born on Staten Island, the son of Elena Blandino, a homemaker, and Benjamin Loggia, a shoemaker, both of whom were born in Sicily, Italy...
("a memorably physical performance"), but complained that the film overall is "thoroughly mundane", obvious and sentimental, also singling out for criticism the "outstandingly intrusive score". Also taking note of the "intrusive score", Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
found all of the cast melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
tic with the exception of Dafoe's "disciplined performance" and dismissed the film as "earnest but woefully misguided". Time Magazine noted that the film "is too respectful of its subject to find more in it than noble cliches", highlighting Young's "bland direction" and concluding that "[t]he film's only and considerable virtue lies in its documentation of the desperate strategies people devised to stay alive in the death camps." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
felt that, by showcasing the fights and expecting viewers to root for Arouch, the filmmakers in effect force audiences to behave no differently than the Nazis in the story. The 2005 book Projecting the Holocaust Into the Present, though acknowledging the generally negative critical reviews, opines that "Young's depiction of the ethical vacuum that the Nazis devised at Auschwitz makes the movie disturbing and effective."