gregg r
A very haunting movie. Pay attention to the last 30 minutes of this movie. Why this movie did'not win a Academy award is a shame. The best performance belong to young Mr. Hess as Tolo. He is amazing, very Oscar-worthy. It's not for the kids, but definitely a adult film. 10 stars for this epic movie. The movie was made in 2001, but still is a great movie in 2012. HJO performance was great, but the film still goes to Leon Hess. At eight years old, he was outstanding. I will never forget his last scene. Haunting and riveting at the same time. Whether you are a Catholic or a Jew or any religion, this is a terrific movie. The very next day, i purchased this movie and added to my very rare selection of movies. Simply mind-boggling.
Danusha_Goska Save Send Delete
"Edges of the Lord" is a beautifully shot film. The interior of peasant homes and the Polish countryside glow."Edges" includes some unforgettable performances. Willem Dafoe is stunning as nobody's ideal -- and yet very loving -- priest. Haley Joel Osment reveals, yet again, that he has more heart and talent in his pinkie than many bigger stars have in their whole bodies.Liam Hess, as Tolo, an eight year old peasant child with a Messiah complex, is reason enough alone to see the movie. I've never seen anything like his performance. He is mesmerizing. Had this film received a theatrical release, Hess' performance would be legendary by now.HJO plays Romek, a Jewish boy who, during the Holocaust, is sent to live with a Polish peasant family. During his time there he has fights, and makes friends, with Polish peasant children. An older girl, teenage Maria, tries to introduce him to love.This coming of age tale occurs with the Holocaust in the background. Trains of Jews pass through the village; villagers rob escaping Jews. Three Polish peasant characters are shot to death for defying Nazi orders. A pall of menace hangs over every word and deed.Tolo, who looks younger than eight, takes it upon himself to sacrifice for the suffering humanity he sees around him. He asks to be crucified. He attempts to perform a miracle. Upon learning that Jesus was Jewish, Tolo claims to be Jewish -- to a Nazi. In the end, Tolo does perform a sacrifice, one the viewer did not expect.Viewers can't fully understand this movie without understanding the background of Polish Jewish relations. Both Polish Catholics and Jews suffered under the Nazis. Nazis, though, targeted Jews for complete elimination, and came dreadfully close to carrying out that evil end.In recent years, loud voices have claimed that Poles did not do enough to rescue Jews, or that Poles celebrated, or participated in, the Holocaust that occurred, largely, on Polish soil. Poles, less well organized, have tried to present a more complicated picture -- one in which any Pole who helped any Jew in any way risked death not just for himself, the helper, but for his entire family. Poles also point out that there are more Poles honored among the righteous at Yad Vashem than any others.Too, Poles point out, World War Two was just the latest catastrophe, for Poles, in a two century long history of catastrophes, including domination by hostile Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Poles suffered horribly under the Nazis. There were Poles in Auschwitz, on mass transport trains, and in gas chambers.Needless to say, this short review can't honor all the competing narratives that serve as backdrop to this movie.As a viewer, I can say that this film was not a complete success for me aesthetically. Watching films about genocide is hard. If I am going to invest time in such an endeavor, I want to feel that the investment was worthwhile -- that I learned something, or grew as a person, from the experience. Genocide films that have worked for me have included "The Pianist" and "Hotel Rwanda." Both films focused on a single strand narrative that followed one character I deeply cared about."Edges of the Lord" does not follow a single strand narrative focused on one charismatic character. Though I liked many, I never became intimately involved with any of the characters. The film's focus is too diffuse, switching from narrative strand to narrative strand.And then there are the political issues. I can understand the desire to make a film that communicates that World War Two was a tortuous, chaotic prison for all Poles. The Bad Poles here -- the ones who rob escaping Jews -- are bad Poles, period. They also betray their own Polish Catholic neighbors to the Nazis. One, the script makes clear, has performed unnatural acts with sheep. And he rapes a beloved female character.At one point, a priest confronts a Polish criminal with his crime. The criminal says, "Who are you going to report me to?" World-War-Two-era Poland was a land without justice. The good Poles did was erased, often, by their murder at the hands of Nazis. Bad Poles faced no court of justice; rather, they profited from others' misfortunes.That this film communicates that understanding is a good thing.There are political issues in a film in which Tolo, a Polish Catholic boy, a child of the "Christ of Nations," volunteers to be crucified, symbolically, and, ultimately, in a real way, as a gesture of solidarity with suffering Jews. This is an issue that deserves discussion. But, unfortunately, this film was all but buried. It received no theatrical release, and little press. That is a shame.I do have mixed feelings about this film as an aesthetic product and a political statement, but I also must recommend it for anyone who would like to see an unforgettable performance by a child actor, and for persons interested in seeing the Holocaust from an alternative point of view.
Ty60798
This is one of Haley's best movies, and I've seen most of his work. I had low expectations, when I started to watch this movie. Needless to say Edges of the Lord exceeded my expectations greatly. The acting in this movie was great. I felt the pains of the characters, as they lived their lives in the darkest days of WWII Poland. I loved the performance of young Liam Hess, he made this movie what it was, by the end of movie you will love him. If you haven't seen this movie yet, go out and find it,trust me by the end of the movie you will find yourself where I am now, writing to tell others how good this film was. If you are a Haley Joel fan this is on of his, hidden treasures. He played a part that I would have never pictured him in, and as usual he put the movie over the top. I just can't say enough about the cast of young actors in this film, all that is left to says is go ahead and rent or buy this movie.
