A Sudden Stop

Rating: 7/10 (14 September 2008)

Went into this film a little unsure but with an open mind, attempting to take it for what it was and appreciating that it was going to be different to the usual films I see (generally action).
We learn of the family and of how they are relocating due to the father's job and follow them as the move to their new home. The naivety of the son emotes a sympathetic feeling from the audience as we understand what is going on to a greater extent than he does. His treatment of Pavel as being 'just another normal person' helps to further his appeal to the audience. In particular the way that the daughter changes following her teaching, leads you to side with the younger sibling as he remains oblivious to the horrors that are occurring a little way outside of his bedroom window.
However, I found that any empathy that I felt for the son was lost as he turned his back on the boy from the camp when he was summoned to work in the house. Yes it is understandable that he was scared by the intimidating Nazi officer, but he had already seen what had happened to Pavel when he made the grave mistake of spilling wine. My sympathy was lost to the point that I felt no great sorrow with the way that the film ended. Yes he was only a child, but he must have realised what would happen if he lied. In a way my sympathy stopped as suddenly as the film did.
The film does a good job of showing a portion of what was going on at the time. The way that the daughter was 'brain-washed' into the Nazi way of thinking, the boy was naive and lead astray by the propaganda film of the camp and the way the wife was happy to relocate for her husband's job, so long as she did not have to see or learn of what was occurring.
It's a definite far cry from the usual action films that I watch, but that by no means lowered my enjoyment of the film. My only gripe is that the amount of development of the family's story felt as though it took away time from the development of the boys' relationship and also the closing of the film.
A film that does a job of telling a naive story that is occurring besides one of the most horrifying times of history.