Movie Review: Ithaca

Title: Ithaca
Author: Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, Momentum Pictures
Release Date: 2015
Genre: war, family, drama, coming of age
My Rating: ****
Official Rating: PG: thematic elements, a war image, and smoking (edited to add: implied drinking)
Age Group: 12+

Summary: Fourteen year old Homer is the man of the family now. His father is dead, and his brother Marcus is away in the war. No way his little four year old brother can take care of things, and his sister is sweet but not really ready to take on adult responsibilities yet. And Mom? Well Mom is a wonderful woman, but she misses her husband.
So Homer goes up the road to get a job as a telegraph messenger. He meets a young man who was "the best messenger there ever was", now just trying to keep his business alive. Then there's the old man who transcribes the telegraphs and regularly gets drunk at night because he struggles with reality.
The first day of work finds Homer stumbling into the house saying, "It's fine, Mom. Everything is fine." And then confessing the world is not what he thought. He spends his day in school, his afternoons and nights at the office delivering telegraphs that sometimes he'd rather no one had to receive.
This is the story of Homer's becoming a man during World War II.


Word of Warning

• Ulysses (the little brother) is quite the little adventurer, running off and all over the town. Nothing serious ever happens to him, but it's a little concerning.
• We don't know how Homer's father died, but Homer has a nightmare about him, and his mother sometimes sees his father in the house when he is clearly not there.
• Marcus' friend confesses that he doesn't have a family or any real reason to care about anything. It's sad to think he grew up with no one.
• As mentioned in the PG rating, there is one war image. It is mostly smoke, some shouting, lots of running, and one or two screams.
• The old man at the telegraph office gets drunk every night--and he'll admit this without hesitation.
• A group of three soldiers about to ship out meet Homer's sister and friend and take them to the movies. They're clearly smitten, but all that happens is a kiss on the cheek and one of the soldiers staring, spellbound, at one of the girls in a rather sweet way.
• Homer delivers letter after letter that begin something like "The US Secretary of War regrets to inform you."
• Two deaths, both very heartbreaking, neither graphic.
• Homer says he has changed, that he doesn't really care anymore. He doesn't care whether the new girl likes him, or what Ulysses does next, or anything else. It's not that he's lost the will to live, he just doesn't care about the things he used to. It's heartbreaking to watch this change happen to him as he is forced to grow up far too quickly.

My Thoughts
Is there a plot? No. Nothing happens, there is no bad guy, and there is no definitive end. This is simply the story of a fourteen year old boy during the war. He receives letters from home, he brings home his paycheck to his mother, he chats with his little brother early in the morning, and he delivers letters that break hearts.
Despite the lack of plot, the movie itself is beautiful. It makes use of simple and realistic dialogue, silence, and careful lighting to set a mood and tell a tale that perhaps we do not want to hear, but should.

Book Review: Salt to the Sea

Title: Salt to the Sea
Author: Ruta Sepetys
Release Date: 2016
Genre: historical fiction, WW2, romance, teen fiction, travel, family, pain
My Rating: *****
Official Rating: teen fiction
Age Group: 16+ (or 18+, depending on reader's exposure)
Awards: Junior Library Guild Book Pick, 2015 Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Residency

Summary
"We the survivors are not the true witnesses. The true witnesses, those in possession of the unspeakable truth, are the drowned, the dead, the disappeared" --Primo Levi

Joana: a nurse from Lithuania, Lina's cousin, and just trying to make up for her mistakes by caring for those around her. Emilia: a young Polish girl running away, hiding a pregnancy, looking for some goodness in the world that mirrors the fairy tale world she so recently lived in. Alfred: a young German soldier, stuck in his own head, blind to the evils around him, eager to please but not wanting to work. Florian: a Prussian art scholar, fleeing two countries as he tries to avenge his father's death and find his sister before it is too late. And Sorry Eva and Wandering Boy Klaus and Shoe Poet and all the others.
Wilhelm Gustloff, the ship that will take the injured soldiers and refugees to safety.

The lives of these characters all converge until they find themselves aboard the Gustloff where they witness what the author calls "the single greatest tragedy in maritime history."

Word of Warning

• This is war. Horrible things happen, and the descriptions are not graphic but are rather stark. People are frozen dead, starve, shot, missing limbs, delirious, dying, drowning, getting crushed, and more. There is an assumed murder-sucicide of a family.
• We hear of the invasion of a town where the Russians raped the young women and slaughtered all the others. Later there is mention of getting someone's "skirt up", which is what the Russians would do (or so we are told).
• A young woman gives birth.
• A character has shrapnel embedded in his back which has to be removed without medical supplies.
• People are cruel animals to each other. Children die horrible deaths, parents are desperate, and people are generally heartless.
• Kisses. Flirting (honest, delirious, and twisted--though from different people).
• Lying. Cheating. Spying.

My Thoughts
From a purely literary perspective, it is a work of art. The way the author shapes the narrative through the minds of four distinct characters from four different countries, all stories converging on the Gustloff,  and giving incredibly historical perspective all along the way--this is a truly stunning book.

She's done it again. Ruta Sepetys, the author of Between Shades of Gray, has once again written us something that tears at our hearts while revealing to us the horrible truths of history which are so often overlooked.
It sounds horrible to say this is a good book. I might use the word "priceless" instead. Amid all the horror, we see people emerge as heroes. Amid all the smoke, we are at last shown the truth.

I have nothing valuable to say about this book aside from this: read it.

Book Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Author: Mary Ann and Annie Barrows
Release Date: 2008
Genre: historical fiction, letters, romance, British literature, WWII
My Rating: ****
Official Rating: adult fiction
Age Group: 16+

Summary:
Juliet is a young writer in London trying to get back on her feet after the war. Her house was bombed and she is living in a little apartment. While a truly successful writer during the war, she doesn't want to write about those things in that style anymore. It was trivial and careless, a much-needed distraction for her readers at the time. But now she wants to write about something better.
And she's having a horrible time finding something to write about. Eventually, she gets in touch (quite accidentally) with the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a group of people in Guernsey whose survival stories from the war are unfortunately common, and yet unique in that they are their own people. She greatly enjoys her correspondence with the Literary Society and eventually goes to visit, thinking maybe at long last she has found the subject for her book, if only she can find the proper structure.

All written in the form of letters.

Word of Warning

• There is mention that one of the characters is homosexual. This is glossed over for the most part.
• Children born out of wedlock.
• Kisses. One of my favorite parts of the novel is when one letter-writer confesses that she caught two people kissing in the parking lot with loosely closed lips. It's my favorite because this is proposed as a huge scandal. There's just something very beautiful and innocent and right about that, and it's something it's been along time since I saw.
• People suffered during the war, which we knew. They had barely enough to eat and constantly lived in fear. While not graphic, and not at all depressing, there is no shying away from the facts.
• One woman is sent to Ravensbruck where she died. We get small glimpses into this life. Mentions of beatings, solitary confinement, a woman freezing to death, and dog attacks (though the dog attack part is skimmed over quickly).
• Orphans. Death. Bombings (mentioned, as this is after the war so they are no longer happening).

My Thoughts
This is a gem of a novel. Its composition being entirely of letters was particularly interesting for me as a reader. It was a very unique and wonderful way to approach the story. Letters are sent to an editor, a best friend, the people of Guernsey, a suitor, secretaries, and many other characters. Most of them center around Juliet and are more often than not sent to or from her.

It's a fascinating little story, actually. Gripping, but not in the way that has you sitting on the edge of your seat. It's a sort of comfortable grip, as though you have something sweet to return to at the end of the day before bed.
But this is about World War II, you might remind me. That was a horrible time. It's not a "fascinating little story" that is sweet.
But it was. It was gentle, did not shy away from reality, and had a beautiful glimmer about it all the same. In no way did I feel that it had neglected the horrors of the war. I honestly think it was more touching than those horror stories of the terrible things that happened (though those have their place as well).

Wonderfully done, Shaffer and Barrows. Well-crafted. Structure, wording, the characters--it all worked together to create a gem that I will keep on my bookshelf forever.

Movie Review: Schindler's List

*******MATURE CONTENT WARNING*******

Disclaimer: I watched this movie for a theology class titled "Christian Faith in the Management Professions." Basically, it's a class about theology in the business world (and a fantastic class at that!). Because of this, I was paying close attention to the business aspects of the story. I realize there is more to the story than that, and I have tried to highlight it in my review, but if I miss anything, or say something hurtful or offensive, I apologize. The Holocaust was a horrible event in history, so horrible movies and books cannot begin to address it, but we need to start somewhere.
With that said, I humbly present my review of this stunning movie.

Title: Schindler's List
Author: Steven Spielberg, Liam Neeson
Release Date: 1993
Genre: Drama, true story, historical, WW II
My Rating: ****
Official Rating: R
Age Group: 18+

Summary
World War II opens up a whole new world of business for eager entrepreneur Oskar Schindler. Finding that he can hire Jews much more cheaply than any other workers, the man makes a serious profit off Jewish labor while the Jews are kept in a Ghetto. His accountant/manager Itzhak Stern (also a Jew) takes the opportunity to make "essential workers" of people otherwise considered by the Nazis as useless. A one-armed man. Older people. A teacher. A little boy. The list goes on.
Slowly, Schindler starts to see the horrors that are happening around him and his little business. During the scene titled "Liquidation of the Ghetto" he finally sees reality and has no idea what to do.
Eventually, Schindler creates a good business that keeps Jews safe. When the camps begin to kill the Jewish people living in them, Schindler makes a list of all his workers. They are essential, he says, and he doesn't have time to train new ones. The little girls' fingers help clean out the shells of bullets, he argues, and they must come too. He pays the camp officials for his list of Jews and brings them to his home town where they work in a factory.
None of this, however, happens without struggle.

Word of Warning
 I'm going very general here. Let me say this: the movie is rated R and it has every reason to be. Personally, I regret seeing some of the scenes of this movie. It was very intense.

• Death. People die all the time. Most are shot in the head. A head blows to pieces, blood spurts from wounds, etc. Most of the violence is non-graphic and almost calm in an utterly disturbing way.
• Most memorable and painful death moments: a young child is killed and more young deaths are implied; the man's head being blown off; a whole "cabin" of men is lined up and every other man is shot; about five men are lined up and shot with one bullet, those remaining standing are shot individually; a man is hanged; a hospital shooting where everyone there is shot (the nurses killed the patients beforehand secretly); little boy shot while being held up by soldiers; the random killings by Goeth which are shown from affair but sudden an unexpected
• Nudity. Both Schindler and Amon Goeth (camp official) have mistresses. Goeth's mistress is seen completely topless more than once, but as far as I can remember not in a purposefully sexual way. It's usually just morning and she is lounging in bed. Jews are told to remove all clothes and forced to run about the camp for a physical evaluation--men and women are shown completely nude. This is non-sexual and usually brief. Women are shown completely nude going into a giant shower house. Again, non-sexual.
• Schindler is a player. He has a wife but is not at all faithful to her, and she spends most of the movie living elsewhere. He has a regular mistress in addition to flirting with other women and, in one scene, kissing a whole bunch of different women.
• An official mocks a young women who is barely dressed, beats her, and leaves her for dead.
• Drinking. One character is shown drunk.
• Burning of dead bodies.
• Language is an issue, but not to the point where it detracts from the movie. Considering how, when, and who uses it, I think it makes sense. It's just not appropriate language for younger children, but they should not be watching this movie.
• This movie is considered a relatively accurate representation of the Holocaust.

My Thoughts
This is a horrific masterpiece. I'm not sure how to describe it. The music, the acting, the black and white film, the dullness and simplicity, everything. It all adds up to show a beautiful story in the midst of something utterly horrific.
In the midst of it all, Schindler is oblivious at first, just as the girl in the red coat. But as he watches the girl, he comes to a realization: he can't be clueless anymore. She remains so, and dies. Schindler decides to live purposefully--and not just for money.
Money isn't the greatest good anymore--people are.
My heart broke more than once as I watched this movie. I don't regret watching it, but it was very very painful--as it should be.
Wonderfully done. Beautiful horrible story.
Praise God for giving us people like this in our times of need, to rescue the few they can.
And praise God for giving us film makers like this who can share the story and touch hearts all over again.