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TRIUMPH OF THE SPIRIT – Cliff Eidelman
THROWBACK THIRTY
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Triumph of the Spirit is a 1989 Holocaust-themed drama, directed by Robert M. Young, based on a screenplay by Shimon Arama, Zion Haen, Andrzej Krakowski, and Laurence Heath. It stars Willem Dafoe and is based on the true life story of Salamo Arouch, a Jewish former Olympic boxer who is taken as a prisoner during World War II and sent to he Auschwitz concentration camp. While there, Salamo is literally forced to fight for his life, taking part in brutal boxing matches for the amusement of the guards, who threaten to murder his family if he refuses to fight. With only the love of his girlfriend Allegra (Wendy Gazelle) to sustain him, Salamo fights over 200 matches while in captivity – knowing that every person he defeats will be killed – all the while dreaming of the day that he and his loved ones would again be free. The film co-stars Edward James Olmos and Robert Loggia, and was heralded at the time for the fact that it was the first major film to actually be shot on location at the real Auschwitz. The other aspect of the film – and the most pertinent one to me – is the fact that its score was written by the then 24-year-old Cliff Eidelman. Read more…
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