Fighter
Two survivors of WWII atrocities meet in Fighter, an emotional road-trip documentary from director Amir Bar-Lev. The film follows friends Jan Wiener and Arnost Lustig as they journey from Prague to Italy -- the exact path that Wiener used to escape from a Nazi labor camp. Lustig is an author who seeks to write about his friend Wiener's experiences, but over the course of the film, each man shares his tale of oppression, escape, and emotional recovery. Both men recount tales of watching their parents die in ghettos, and being told that they wouldn't live to see adulthood. Far from being agreeable old chums, however, the two men philosophically bicker; after one such argument, they vowed that they would never speak to each other again, and filming halted until the two reconciled.
Director: Amir Bar-Lev
Fighter shapes up as one of the great documentaries of this year, or any other.
Powerful, provocative and often surprisingly funny, this may be the year's outstanding documentary.
This exciting, ultimately bittersweet, film was shot cheaply on video, but is nevertheless filled with moments of artistry and invention.
In this movie the war is not quite over. For those who survived it, maybe it will never be.
In the end, Fighter, despite its newsreel footage, is less a document of wartime experience than of the mentality one needs to maintain in order to be a fighter.
Best Documentary Feature Film/Video
Hamptons International Film Festival (2000)
Amir Bar-Lev
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (2000)
Best Documentary
Newport International Film Festival (2000)
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