Gruber's Journey

Summary On 22 June 1941, Germany and Romania attack Soviet Russia. Several days later, Curzio Malaparte, the Italian writer who would one day pen the novel « Kaputt », a war correspondent for « Corriere de la Sera », arrives in Iasi, in the north of Moldova, on his way to the front, which is nearby. He is incapacitated by a severe allergy and his only chance of recovery is to find a Jewish doctor, an allergologist who had studied in Florence, called Josef Gruber. All his attempts to find him are unsuccessful. While looking for him, Curzio discovers that in Iasi, several days prior to his arrival, a violent anti-Semitic pogrom took place and that a large number of the Jewish citizens of Iasi were deported by train and that Dr Gruber may be among them. In order to find him, Curzio, aided by Guido Sartori, the Italian consul in Iasi, tries to obtain an official warrant to bring Josef Gruber back. He confronts indifference, rudeness and the desire by the Romanian authorities to hide something relating to the deportation of the Iasi Jews. His journeys between the garrison of Iasi and its commandant, Colonel Niculescu-Coca, and chief of police Stavarache, are fruitless. After a confrontation with Niculescu-Coca, Curzio and Sartori leave in search of the Jews who, after several nights - during which many of them were shot in the yard of the police station were boarded onto goods wagon and sent to a station 20 kilometres from Iasi. Arriving there, Curzio and Sartori find a number of locked wagons from which moans and whimpers of people in agony are heard. Wanting to open a wagon, Curzio is stopped at gunpoint by a corporal. The two learn from the corporal that the Jews who had died of thirst in the train have already been unloaded and are being buried in a nearby cemetery. Arriving there, before a mass grave where bodies covered in quicklime can be made out, Curzio learns that the man he is looking for, Josef Gruber, is among the dead. The next day, back at the hotel, Curzio receives a visit from Colonel Niculescu-Coca, who, apologizing for the previous days altercation, has some unexpected news for Curzio View more details

Gruber's Journey

Directed : Radu Gabrea

Written : Alexandru Baciu Razvan Radulescu

Stars : Marcel Iures Florin Piersic Jr. Claudiu Bleont Udo Schenk

7.1

Details

Genres : Drama

Release date : Apr 23, 2009

Countries of origin : Hungary Romania

Language : German Italian Romanian

Filming locations : Iasi, Romania

Production companies : Új Budapest Filmstudió

Summary On 22 June 1941, Germany and Romania attack Soviet Russia. Several days later, Curzio Malaparte, the Italian writer who would one day pen the novel « Kaputt », a war correspondent for « Corriere de la Sera », arrives in Iasi, in the north of Moldova, on his way to the front, which is nearby. He is incapacitated by a severe allergy and his only chance of recovery is to find a Jewish doctor, an allergologist who had studied in Florence, called Josef Gruber. All his attempts to find him are unsuccessful. While looking for him, Curzio discovers that in Iasi, several days prior to his arrival, a violent anti-Semitic pogrom took place and that a large number of the Jewish citizens of Iasi were deported by train and that Dr Gruber may be among them. In order to find him, Curzio, aided by Guido Sartori, the Italian consul in Iasi, tries to obtain an official warrant to bring Josef Gruber back. He confronts indifference, rudeness and the desire by the Romanian authorities to hide something relating to the deportation of the Iasi Jews. His journeys between the garrison of Iasi and its commandant, Colonel Niculescu-Coca, and chief of police Stavarache, are fruitless. After a confrontation with Niculescu-Coca, Curzio and Sartori leave in search of the Jews who, after several nights - during which many of them were shot in the yard of the police station were boarded onto goods wagon and sent to a station 20 kilometres from Iasi. Arriving there, Curzio and Sartori find a number of locked wagons from which moans and whimpers of people in agony are heard. Wanting to open a wagon, Curzio is stopped at gunpoint by a corporal. The two learn from the corporal that the Jews who had died of thirst in the train have already been unloaded and are being buried in a nearby cemetery. Arriving there, before a mass grave where bodies covered in quicklime can be made out, Curzio learns that the man he is looking for, Josef Gruber, is among the dead. The next day, back at the hotel, Curzio receives a visit from Colonel Niculescu-Coca, who, apologizing for the previous days altercation, has some unexpected news for Curzio View more details

Details

Genres : Drama

Release date : Apr 23, 2009

Countries of origin : Hungary Romania

Language : German Italian Romanian

Filming locations : Iasi, Romania

Production companies : Új Budapest Filmstudió

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Half the Sky

Half the Sky

In Rabat, Jocelyne, a 28-year-old French teacher, is married to Abdellatif Laâbi, a 29-year-old Moroccan poet, with whom she has two children. Abdellatif, director of the opposition magazine Souffles, creates with his friend, Abraham Serfaty, the clandestine revolutionary movement, Ilal-Amam. In January 1972, Abdellatif and Abraham are arrested. They are, however, freed one month after the birth of Qods, Abdellatifs daughter. But, in March 1972, Abdellatif is arrested once again. Abraham escapes from the police and goes underground. Evelyne, Abrahams sister is arrested and savagely tortured. Freed, she tells Jocelyne that she was called a dirty Jew by the police. This insult reminds Jocelyne of a terrible family secret: her father, member of the Vichy militia, participated in the arrest of Jews in Lyon. Jocelyne decides to be the secret link between Abraham and the prisoners and she mobilizes with the families. In 1973, Abdellatif is sentenced to ten years in prison! In 1974, Abraham is arrested, which enables the police to discover the letters that Jocelyne wrote him. Arrested, her passport is confiscated and she is taken to a secret detention center where she ends up admitting that she wrote the letters. Freed, she notices that Qods growth has stopped. The doctors prescribe tests in France. But the embassy refuses to give her a new passport because of a secret deal with the police! In 1977, Abraham is sentenced to life imprisonment! The prisoners go on a hunger strike. One prisoner, Saïda Menebhi, dies. The fight pays off: in 1980, the families can visit the prisoners outside the visiting room. But this visit reminds Jocelyne that she must wait two more years before Abdellatif is released. Despondent, she takes comfort with friends in Casablanca. The next day, in a spectacular turn of events, she learns that Abdellatif had been released the night before!

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