As we enter an era when few living Holocaust survivors remain and when there is a concerted effort to ban books like Maus that directly confront the horrors of the Holocaust, it is important for art to continue to be made that passes these stories down.
Barry Levinson’s latest film, “The Survivor,” currently streaming on HBO Max, does just that.
The story follows Harry Haft (Ben Foster), a boxer and survivor of the concentration camps at Auschwitz. We meet up with him as he is struggling with PTSD symptoms during his matches. He is approached by reporter Emory Anderson (Peter Sarsgaard) who asks him to share his story of being a Holocaust survivor.
Harry is hesitant at first, but as he is trying to find a woman he loves who was sent to another camp, he realizes he can only do that if he has greater publicity. He agrees to the profile in the hopes of securing a fight with Rocky Marciano.
It is at this point we find that while he was in the camp, he was trained by SS Officer Schneider (Billy Magnussen) to be a boxer to entertain the guards. As we quickly learn, a KO in this ring would result in the loser’s execution. As this story breaks, Haft becomes a bit of a pariah in his community, seen as a traitor who sent his fellow Jews to their death.
There are three time periods represented in this film, and it is incredible that Foster plays Haft in all of them. Scenes set in Auschwitz are in stark black and white with an emaciated Haft fighting for his life. The scenes in the late 40s are sepia toned and we see a handsome and fit Haft. And then we see a pudgier Haft in the 60s, still struggling with PTSD. Foster inhabits all of these versions of the same character brilliantly.
The performances in this film are all excellent. John Leguizamo and Danny DeVito both shine as boxing coaches, bringing some levity to an otherwise dark movie. Sarsgaard brings a kind of removed sympathy, and Vicky Krieps brings a warm empathy as she helps Haft search for his lost love. Magnussen gives depth to the Nazi commander, outlining the choices before Haft.
This is very much the heart of this movie; the issue of choice. Haft is placed in an impossible situation. Stay alive for the woman he loves, or fight people in his community, resulting in their death. We have seen this fictionalized in stories like “The Hunger Games,” but this is a true story of a man who had only bad choices available to him. That being offered as a choice seems hollow. When the only options presented result in pain, do you really have any autonomy?
As we see rising extremism in our own country, it is important to look back on history and see how impossible choices forced people to be the worst versions of themselves. The ability to stop impossible choices is one we can choose now.
ALISE CHAFFINS is a Morgantown writer who loves movies and sharing her opinions. She reviews a movie from a streaming service every Saturday and one newly in theaters every Sunday. Find more at MacGuffin or Meaning on Substack.
