THE STORY – A group of prisoners attempt to escape Chełmno extermination camp during World War II, the first known Nazi camp of that nature, with the plan to tell the world of the systematic atrocities carried out.
THE CAST – Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Jeremy Neumark Jones, Anton Lesser, David Kross & Michael Fox
THE TEAM – Lior Geller (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 109 Minutes
While Holocaust movies are a dime a dozen, they have a uniquely challenging line to balance. For starters, they have to pay tribute and be respectful to the millions of lives lost during World War II while also being an entertaining movie. In addition, they also need to distinguish themselves from the rest of the Holocaust films. It has to be entertaining but not exploitative. This causes some movies within the genre (if you can even call it a genre) to either not take the subject matter seriously enough or be too graphic and horrifying that it should have been a documentary. But, as we all know, there are so many stories of World War II and the Holocaust, and they all deserve to have their story told.
“The World Will Tremble” is a new story brought to film. It’s set in 1942-occupied Poland, specifically at the Chełmno extermination camp. It was the first extermination, or death camp, developed by the Nazis that used prototype trucks that would quickly fill with poisonous gas once the engine turned on. Fortunately or unfortunately, a few Jewish men were chosen to live as workers, who would dig the mass graves and bury the deceased, sometimes even members of their family or community. Some of these men were Solomon Wiener (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and Michael Podchlebnik (Jermy Neumark Jones. It is unknown how long the men have been at the camp, marching behind countless trucks of screaming victims, but it is clear that these men have had enough and that it is time to take matters into their own hands.
The first half of the film centers in Chełmno, and therefore, the images and scenes are graphic, even for a Holocaust film. It is clear that writer-director Lior Geller wants his audience to see the horrors these men had to experience at the hands of the Nazi soldiers. But dedicating half of one’s film to these circumstances is grueling. As an audience, we learn little about Solomon, Michael, or the other prisoners outside of their abuse and suffering, so it is difficult to relate to them as characters. Yes, we empathize with them and agree that what they are experiencing is atrocious, but in a narrative feature film, it will always be stronger to connect with the individual arcs of the characters. There are simply better ways to tell stories about horrible suffering without showcasing the suffering constantly for an hour. Naturally, a trigger warning is essential for this viewing.
Fortunately, the film picks up once Solomon and Michael decide it is time for them to escape. Both Jackson-Cohen and Jones turn in compelling work as men on the run who are in a constant state of fight or flight but also determined to tell their Jewish communities still in ghettos what is happening. Cinematographer Ivan Vatsov and editor Tal Keller use minimal takes during this section of the film, which provides a real-time effect to the film, similar to that of “1917.” Erez Koskas’ music also ebbs and flows in the right places to provide an emotional reaction from audiences.
Geller’s message about “The World Will Tremble” is visible in its final moments, as Solomon is begging a Rabbi at a ghetto to believe his story. Through text at the end of the film, we learn that Solomon was the first eyewitness to the Holocaust and had the first testimony to the Nazi’s mass murder of Jewish people. It is the film’s strongest moment but also its epilogue, which results in a strange effect. Solomon Wiener’s story is there, and it is definitely worth being told, but “The World Will Tremble” would have been much stronger if Geller showcased this theme, the importance of bearing witness and providing testimony, through the entirety of the film instead of making it part horror film, part escape film.
