Even Jurek, in virtually every frame of the film, is defined almost solely by his will to live, functioning mainly as a witness to events with little personal coloration or interiority. Magda is the closest the film ever comes to an authentic character. But after an unsuccessful chicken-snatching raid results in the capture of some kids and the scattering of others, Srulik once again finds himself alone as bitter winter and the Gestapo close in.Ĭalling himself “Jurek” to disguise his Jewishness, he seeks temporary shelter or employment at a succession of farmhouses, encountering slammed doors and an occasional odd job until he arrives at the home of Magda (Elisabeth Duda, excellent), wife and mother of partisans, who teaches him everything he needs to pass as Catholic. He hooks up briefly with a small bunch of Jewish kids also on the run, who have banded together to forage off the land, roasting stolen chickens around a fire and keeping morale alive by swapping displays of bravado. Srulik (played by twins Andrzej and Kamil Tkacz) escapes the roundup in his hometown to hide out in the woods. A natural for Jewish viewers and older arthouse-goers, “Run Boy Run” feels too old-fashioned and by-the-numbers for a wider audience. For his Holocaust saga of an 8-year-old Jewish child cast adrift in Nazi-occupied Poland, vet German helmer Pepe Danquart relies on the pathos inherent in the situation to carry his film emotionally as the kid’s struggle for survival increasingly reflects the Jewish people’s struggle to maintain their identity in the face of genocide. For older children, teenagers and adults, "Run Wild, Run Free" is what it's intended to be: an absorbing family movie.Based on a bestseller that was itself based on a true story (the real-life protagonist appears under the end credits), “ Run Boy Run” sticks faithfully, albeit highly unimaginatively, to its source. Still, these reservations are mostly on behalf of the younger kids (and if you take yours, you might try discussing the movie with them afterward to be sure they understood). Some of the 6- and 7-year-olds didn't like it a bit. Until you're fairly sure of yourself, it's no fun to see a kid in a movie get lost. "Run Wild, Run Free," since it is preoccupied with the inner difficulties of the hero, has too many scenes where the boy runs off to the foggy moor and is searched for by his parents and friends. "National Velvet" told a story (here was this young girl who loved a horse and knew it could win the Grand National). The plot is fairly thin, which doesn't help. More warmth and tenderness in the character of the mother would have been welcomed by the younger children in the audience. But nothing is made clear, and so the mother simply appears neurotic. These are apparently supposed to indicate her own psychological hang-ups, and to suggest some of the reasons for the boy's problems. Instead, filled with the fire of a dedicated actress, she rings in all sorts of quirks and nervousness. Miss Syms is apparently incapable of playing the role straight, as she should. Few understood it as a psychological difficulty they thought he was either stupid or stubborn.Īnother problem is presented by Sylvia Syms' performance as the boy's mother. All around me, there were urgent conversations going on as the kids tried to figure out why the hero couldn't talk. For one, the boy's speech block is a pretty serious matter, and it bothers the really young children in the audience. And many of the scenes on the moor are breathtakingly beautiful.īut beneath the surface there are some unresolved problems in the film. He's aided by a crusty old moorman ( John Mills) and an 11-year-old girl from a neighboring farm ( Fiona Fullerton). You will get plenty of new locations to run on, with new things to chase you, so there’s a whole lot of fun to be had. His compelling interest is in the wild animals of the moor, and eventually he sets his heart on capturing and taming a wild white pony he's seen. It's about a young English boy ( Mark Lester) who has some sort of psychological block and hasn't spoken since he was very young.
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