Edges of the Lord (2001)

It is amazing that this film did not receive a theatrical release - surely someone in Hollywood has their head up their ass. This movie could have been a major Oscar contender. It is a beautiful story, told to near perfection. Haley Joel Osment continues to prove he's one of the greatest child actors of all-time, and Liam Hess makes an amazing impression as Tolo. Both performances are Oscar worthy, as are the script, direction, cinematography, and picture.Without revealing too much of the film focuses on the story of a young boy torn from his parents and Jewish upbringing and forced into a Catholic peasant community during the War. The horrors of the War are shown full, and the children of the community become heavily involved with the church as a means to escape the horrors, especially the impressionable, younger Tolo.This is definitely one of the best movies to ever deal with the horrors of World War II, and certainly the best since "Schindler's List."

"Edges of the Lord" is a beautifully shot film. The interior of peasant homes and the Polish countryside glow."Edges" includes some unforgettable performances. Willem Dafoe is stunning as nobody's ideal -- and yet very loving -- priest. Haley Joel Osment reveals, yet again, that he has more heart and talent in his pinkie than many bigger stars have in their whole bodies.Liam Hess, as Tolo, an eight year old peasant child with a Messiah complex, is reason enough alone to see the movie. I've never seen anything like his performance. He is mesmerizing. Had this film received a theatrical release, Hess' performance would be legendary by now.HJO plays Romek, a Jewish boy who, during the Holocaust, is sent to live with a Polish peasant family. During his time there he has fights, and makes friends, with Polish peasant children. An older girl, teenage Maria, tries to introduce him to love.This coming of age tale occurs with the Holocaust in the background. Trains of Jews pass through the village; villagers rob escaping Jews. Three Polish peasant characters are shot to death for defying Nazi orders. A pall of menace hangs over every word and deed.Tolo, who looks younger than eight, takes it upon himself to sacrifice for the suffering humanity he sees around him. He asks to be crucified. He attempts to perform a miracle. Upon learning that Jesus was Jewish, Tolo claims to be Jewish -- to a Nazi. In the end, Tolo does perform a sacrifice, one the viewer did not expect.Viewers can't fully understand this movie without understanding the background of Polish Jewish relations. Both Polish Catholics and Jews suffered under the Nazis. Nazis, though, targeted Jews for complete elimination, and came dreadfully close to carrying out that evil end.In recent years, loud voices have claimed that Poles did not do enough to rescue Jews, or that Poles celebrated, or participated in, the Holocaust that occurred, largely, on Polish soil. Poles, less well organized, have tried to present a more complicated picture -- one in which any Pole who helped any Jew in any way risked death not just for himself, the helper, but for his entire family. Poles also point out that there are more Poles honored among the righteous at Yad Vashem than any others.Too, Poles point out, World War Two was just the latest catastrophe, for Poles, in a two century long history of catastrophes, including domination by hostile Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Poles suffered horribly under the Nazis. There were Poles in Auschwitz, on mass transport trains, and in gas chambers.Needless to say, this short review can't honor all the competing narratives that serve as backdrop to this movie.As a viewer, I can say that this film was not a complete success for me aesthetically. Watching films about genocide is hard. If I am going to invest time in such an endeavor, I want to feel that the investment was worthwhile -- that I learned something, or grew as a person, from the experience. Genocide films that have worked for me have included "The Pianist" and "Hotel Rwanda." Both films focused on a single strand narrative that followed one character I deeply cared about."Edges of the Lord" does not follow a single strand narrative focused on one charismatic character. Though I liked many, I never became intimately involved with any of the characters. The film's focus is too diffuse, switching from narrative strand to narrative strand.And then there are the political issues. I can understand the desire to make a film that communicates that World War Two was a tortuous, chaotic prison for all Poles. The Bad Poles here -- the ones who rob escaping Jews -- are bad Poles, period. They also betray their own Polish Catholic neighbors to the Nazis. One, the script makes clear, has performed unnatural acts with sheep. And he rapes a beloved female character.At one point, a priest confronts a Polish criminal with his crime. The criminal says, "Who are you going to report me to?" World-War-Two-era Poland was a land without justice. The good Poles did was erased, often, by their murder at the hands of Nazis. Bad Poles faced no court of justice; rather, they profited from others' misfortunes.That this film communicates that understanding is a good thing.There are political issues in a film in which Tolo, a Polish Catholic boy, a child of the "Christ of Nations," volunteers to be crucified, symbolically, and, ultimately, in a real way, as a gesture of solidarity with suffering Jews. This is an issue that deserves discussion. But, unfortunately, this film was all but buried. It received no theatrical release, and little press. That is a shame.I do have mixed feelings about this film as an aesthetic product and a political statement, but I also must recommend it for anyone who would like to see an unforgettable performance by a child actor, and for persons interested in seeing the Holocaust from an alternative point of view.

"Edges of the Lord" tells of a young Jewish boy (Osment) who is sent to live in a rural village in Poland to escape the holocaust where he is schooled in Christianity by the local priest (Dafoe) and falls in with a group of pre and post pubescent kids. Full of filler and painfully slow moving at times, there's little meat on the bones of this film which gathers momentum past the halfway mark with some dramatic elements including a rape and a showdown with Nazis. However, the drama is underdone, too little too late. and poorly integrated. Most will find "Edges of the Lord" too slow. However, sentimentalists and others who can make the buy-in to this marginal story of children surviving under the pall of war will find the film an entertaining watch. Recommended for hanky ringers, sentimentalists, and others into films about children. (B-)

For several years I have desired to at least SEE this movie! I am so happy to not only have seen the movie, but I now OWN it! This movie has never been theatrically released in the U.S., in fact, I don't believe that any DVD / VHS of it has been released here. I understand that the reason is because it was not "timely" when the shooting was complete. What reason?, why?, & what was Hollywood thinking?!Now this movie is being imported into the U.S. from many other countries by people who desire to watch it! People like me, who are willing to pay to see such a GREAT MOVIE! It is not a well known movie yet! So Hollywood still has a chance. But will they? What I mean is, will Hollywood bring this movie to the big screen, or at least to VHS / DVD here in America?!Oh!, I almost forgot! My review and comments....Yes! This is a GREAT movie! It is a tear jerker though. It is not one I would say young children would enjoy! As far as I know it is not a true story, but it sure is good!SPOILERS:The ending is quite nice, however, what happens before the ending might leave you feeling a bit more sad than happy for the ending itself! In my opinion, this is not bad! It makes us aware! Watch and see for yourself! Thanks....Sean