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I think the movie would have been better in four hours over two weeks; the story still would have been condensed enough to maintain the same fast pace. On the other hand, the pace was what kept me glued to the TV.

My thoughts exactly. I liked the fact that it was fast-paced, but they had enough material for a mini-series. So cramming it all into 90 minutes of running time meant that some subplots inevitably got short-changed.

I also agree with both you and Azizal that the sequence leading up to the deportation of the orphans was heartbreaking and included Goran's strongest acting, but the aftermath--just how Stefan escaped the stockade and how the loss of all those children affected him and Irena--needed more than a couple of lines of dialogue and a quick embrace. OTOH the subplot involving Jasche (the red-headed kid) and his father was interesting and affecting, but it took up a lot of screen time and was only tangentially related to Irena's story. I kept expecting Stefan to connect with Jasche, since they were both ghetto smugglers, but of course that never happened.


Yes, I'm plenty old enough to know Danny Kaye (!) but it was also interesting that Jasche's father mentioned their red hair and keeping it covered. I think that was a reference to the fact that in parts of Eastern Europe red hair is considered a distinctly Jewish trait. Another detail that went by a little too quickly. And did they ever tell us if Jasche got out of the Treblinka woods alive? If so, I missed it.

So the story was a bit disjointed that way. But it kept a nice emotional tension--neither too stodgy nor too maudlin--and is definitely worth watching again on DVD to catch a few more details.