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Triumph of the Spirit (1989)

Rate: 9
Viewed: 12/20

TriumphSp
12/20: Before Schindler's List hit the silver screen, there was Triumph of the Spirit.

Calling it a Holocaust boxing picture will be a serious mistake because that's not what the movie is about. It's about survival during the Holocaust, period. I've read countless survivors' stories with some of them that were accomplished through strange means. Based on what happened to Jewish Greek boxer Salamo Arouch, he had to go through over 200 fights to survive because the loser of each match would be sent to the gas chambers.

Throughout, there's a downward progression of Greek Jewish people's freedom as they've slowly lost their rights, relocated to ghettos, and been taken to Auschwitz. That being said, it makes for a painful viewing. For many, mental toughness is what they needed the most to survive although luck plays a big role.

The wording of the title is interesting because Leni Riefenstahl created a 1935 Nazi propaganda film called Triumph des Willens which is, in English, Triumph of the Will. By switching the final word to Spirit, it becomes a Holocaust victim story that's borne through Nazis' rise to power as chronicled in Leni Riefenstahl's documentary.

There are superlative performances by Willem Dafoe, Robert Loggia, Edward James Olmos, Costas Mandylor (in his screen debut), Wendy Gazelle, and Kelly Wolf. The film isn't about any of them but rather the grand scheme of things.

The actions of Edward James Olmos' character are dead-on, having been too close to the truth of a kapo. As distasteful as it was, the job was a way of surviving the Holocaust for common violent criminals like him. On the other hand, it's the first picture shot on location at the Auschwitz death camp, so it must have been a difficult filming experience for everybody.

All in all, predating Schindler's List by four years, Triumph of the Spirit is raw and uncompromising.