Walking With The Enemy(2014 - April 25)
Action | Drama | History
2 hr. 4 min.
Rated: PG-13 | Frequent war violence but little else to worry about. Read more
Grade: B
Director: Mark Schmidt
Writers: Kenny Golde (screenplay), Richard Lasser (additional screenplay material)
Stars: Jonas Armstrong, Ben Kingsley, Hannah Tointon | See full cast and crew
Inspired by a true story, "Walking with the Enemy" is an unforgettable film of love, courage, and sacrifice. Set in Hungary during the final months of World War ll, a young man sets out to find his displaced family by stealing a Nazi uniform to pose as an officer. Filled with suspense and danger, he undertakes extraordinary measures to reroute his family and other Jews to safety by disrupting the activities of the German occupiers.
WWII drama Walking with the Enemy, directed by Mark Schmidt and starring Jonas Armstrong, Hannah Tointon, Ben Kingsley, Simon Kunz and Simon Dutton. It is bsed on a true story, Armstrong plays Elek Cohen, a young man living
in Hungary during the Nazi occupation at the end of World War II who
steals a Nazi uniform in order to pose as an officer.
In the clip below, you can see Cohen in a restaurant interacting with
another Nazi officer who is raving about the luxurious Nazi "resorts"
where his fellow Jews, neighbors and family alike, are being sent,
putting him in a sticky situation. His family has been taken away but he doesn't know where they have been sent.
I liked Walking With The Enemy, I couldn't help making comparisons to Europa a film that is much more artful in its relating of a similar tale, but is still a good film. It most certainly is an amazing and compelling story. Even though the film is just over 2 hours, it seemed like the script needed more time to tell the story and to delve a bit deeper into the characters. It felt a little too thin making it a triffle difficult to to understand how Cohen was able to pass as an officer so many times in such a small world especially particularly when he kept confronting the same German and Hungarian soldiers and officers. 
I wanted to know more of how he managed his charade. Additionally, I would like to have seen more exposé. This is an era and a subject about which most people know precious little. All that said, Walking With The Enemy is an intriguing story. This is a film that you can enjoy with your family. The film presents an educational opportunity, a chance to teach the horrors of war and man's inhumanity to man. How a society can loose its way through prejudice, bigotry, fear and hatred.
It also teaches the value of self reliance, courage, dedication, love, duty and hope and how perseverance and bravery can overcome even the most formidable forces of evil.
I have a special interest in stories of the holocaust since I have had several Jewish friends who survived the holocaust, some who hid, fled the Nazis and some who lived through concentration camps. A friend of mine's Hungarian father hid from the Nazi Gestapo and their Hungarian collaborators eventually escaping to the west. It's a good film not a great one but I do recommend it.
Cast
Elek Cohen Hannah Schoen
Regent Horthy Miklos Horthy Jr
