"In the westward-bound section, Freddie ends up in Paris, broke and desperate but eager for a bit of glamour all the same. An encounter with raffish but slippery Christos (Fernando Guallar), another immigrant, results in Freddie securing a job in the Opera neighbourhood persuading Nazi soldiers with his perfect fluent German to come to a nightclub he and Christos work for. This is how he hopes to raise enough money to pay for forged papers."
"What follows tracks closely to dozens of similar stories about Jews in exile in Europe during the second world war, compelled to keep their identities secret, and while the film is in fact based on the story of a real-life Freddie Knoller, the cliched treatment rather drains it of the plausibility it needs to make it distinctive. Clara Rugaard co-stars as vampy Jacqueline, Freddie's love interest, a cabaret chanteuse who may be hiding secrets of her own."
"In the lead, Tnnesen has a certain endearing openness of feature, although his facial resemblance to Elle Fanning is quite distracting. The whole package is another bizarre zag in the chevron-shaped career of director Annabel Jankel, who started out directing The Max Headroom Show and the notorious 1993 version of Super Mario Bros. before re-emerging in 2019 after a long gestation with literary lesbian love story Tell It t"
Set in 1938, the story follows Jewish Freddie Knoller as Anschluss forces his family apart. One brother goes to America; Freddie's parents remain behind. The narrative alternates between his attempt to reach the UK via France and his later death march. In Paris Freddie works in the Opera neighbourhood persuading Nazi soldiers to visit a nightclub to raise money for forged papers. Christos and Jacqueline appear as ambiguous fellow immigrants and love interest. The film is based on a real-life Freddie Knoller but relies on clichéd exile tropes that undermine plausibility. Tnnesen delivers an endearing lead performance while other roles, including Til Schweiger's, feel familiar.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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