Directed by Roberto Faenza, Anita B. is an Italian film loosely based on the 2009 autobiographic novel "Quanta stella c'è nel cielo" by Edith Bruck. Anita B. paints a beautiful portrait of a young, orphaned Auschwitz survivor as she attempts to adjust to life in post-war Cszeckoslovaki with her Aunt Monika, Monika's husband Aron, their son Robby, and Aron's brother Eli. While Anita grieves the death of her parents, she must also cope with her aunt's resentment, a tumultuous love affair with Eli, and her struggle to find an individual to confide in. When Monika and Eli demand that Anita leave Auschwitz behind, Anita's only confidante is Monika's baby, Robby. Anita finds brief stability in a relationship, but when Anita befriends a young Jewish man named David and her relationship with Eli becomes unhealthy, Anita once must again escape a complex and stifling situation to pursue a more promising life.
While Faenza's film succeeds in several areas, not the least of which is the film's beautiful cinematography, the film's greatest strength lies in the development of its characters. Particularly compelling is the relationship between Anita and Eli, played by Eline Powell and Robert Sheehan respectively. Their blossoming affair delves into uncertainty as the upbeat and charming Eli succumbs to his anger. The complexity of Eli's character development is significant in that Faenza is careful not to portray any one villain; in other words, Eli himself is a victim of the war and of the Holocaust, he too carrying his own burden and traumas. Thus, Powell and Sheehan, whose performances are equally impressive, capture the spirit of young survivors each riddled with their own anxieties, memories, and troubles: a combination of which proves to be unhealthy for both parties, especially Anita. This complexity likewise manifests itself in the character of Monika, Anita's aunt. Often cold and dismissive, Monika's own struggle to cope with her brother's death results in a well-intentioned yet notably strained relationship with her niece. Faenza not only captures the nuances of complex relationships, but he also portrays the characters struggling with their own identities. In particular, Anita must suppress her identity as a Jewish Hungarian in order to survive; in fact, most of Faenza's characters must grapple with what it means to be Jewish in this new, still hostile and anti Semitic post-Holocaust environment.
Faenza's approach to character development more than pays off; this film in its entirety is cinematographically breathtaking, emotionally compelling, sincere, and hopeful in a way that does not feel cliché. The film captures the complexities, nuances, and hardships that must have accompanied survivors of the Holocaust. Though Faenza's characters, especially Anita, are faced with adversity even after the war's conclusion, they tackle them with a raw honesty that is both heartbreaking and hopeful. Thus, the film does less to capture to the horror and atrocities of the 1940's, and does more to pay homage to those who remarkably lived and endured.
While Faenza's film succeeds in several areas, not the least of which is the film's beautiful cinematography, the film's greatest strength lies in the development of its characters. Particularly compelling is the relationship between Anita and Eli, played by Eline Powell and Robert Sheehan respectively. Their blossoming affair delves into uncertainty as the upbeat and charming Eli succumbs to his anger. The complexity of Eli's character development is significant in that Faenza is careful not to portray any one villain; in other words, Eli himself is a victim of the war and of the Holocaust, he too carrying his own burden and traumas. Thus, Powell and Sheehan, whose performances are equally impressive, capture the spirit of young survivors each riddled with their own anxieties, memories, and troubles: a combination of which proves to be unhealthy for both parties, especially Anita. This complexity likewise manifests itself in the character of Monika, Anita's aunt. Often cold and dismissive, Monika's own struggle to cope with her brother's death results in a well-intentioned yet notably strained relationship with her niece. Faenza not only captures the nuances of complex relationships, but he also portrays the characters struggling with their own identities. In particular, Anita must suppress her identity as a Jewish Hungarian in order to survive; in fact, most of Faenza's characters must grapple with what it means to be Jewish in this new, still hostile and anti Semitic post-Holocaust environment.
Faenza's approach to character development more than pays off; this film in its entirety is cinematographically breathtaking, emotionally compelling, sincere, and hopeful in a way that does not feel cliché. The film captures the complexities, nuances, and hardships that must have accompanied survivors of the Holocaust. Though Faenza's characters, especially Anita, are faced with adversity even after the war's conclusion, they tackle them with a raw honesty that is both heartbreaking and hopeful. Thus, the film does less to capture to the horror and atrocities of the 1940's, and does more to pay homage to those who remarkably lived and endured.