And the Violins Stopped Playing

And the Violins Stopped Playing (Polish: I Skrzypce Przestały Grać) (1988) is a Polish/American historical drama film written, produced and directed by Alexander Ramati and based upon his biographical novel about an actual group of Romani people who were forced to flee from persecution by the Nazi regime at the height of the Porajmos (Romani holocaust), during World War II.[1][2][3]

And the Violins stopped playing
Original title: I Skrzypce Przestały Grać
English language poster
Directed byAlexander Ramati
Produced byAlexander Ramati
Screenplay byAlexander Ramati
Based onAnd the Violins Stopped Playing: A Story of the Gypsy Holocaust
by Alexander Ramati
Starring
Music by
  • Leopold Kozlowski
  • Zdzislaw Szostak
CinematographyEdward Klosinski
Edited byMiroslawa Garlicka
Production
company
  • Roberts/David Films
  • Zespol Filmowy "Tor"
Distributed byOrion Television Distribution
Release date
  • 1988 (1988)
Running time
116 min. (uncut - 184 min)
Country
  • United States
  • Poland
LanguageEnglish

Synopsis

The story opens in 1941 in Warsaw, Poland, with Dymitr Mirga (Horst Buchholz), a prominent Romani violin player, entertaining a group of Germans—German military and SS officers—in a restaurant. The Germans enjoy the entertainment and assure the musicians that the ongoing removal of the region's Jews has nothing to do with the Romani because they are "Aryan" just like the Germans. Dymitr takes his family by train to Brest Litovsk as he is warned by an escapee from a concentration camp as to what is happening to Warsaw's Jews. The family joins a band of Romani on the outskirts of Brest-Litovsk. The local German commander visits the camp and tells the Romani that he is giving them the houses where the Jews lived who have been "re-located" (a euphemism for sending them to concentration camps). Dymitr immediately realizes the truth, and asks the head of the Romani community to lead its evacuation into Hungary, which at that time was still independent. The leader is reluctant to comply, and the community's council eventually forces him to resign, giving his position instead to Dymitr Mirga. The son of the deposed leader had been betrothed to a beautiful Romani named Zoya Natkin (Maya Ramati), who instead chose to marry Dymitr's son, Roman (Piotr Polk).

On their journey to Hungary, some of the Romani desert the group and are killed by the Nazis. Others voluntarily split off, in hopes that by having smaller numbers they will appear to be merchants rather than Romani. Dymitr's small company eventually performs the sacrifice of selling their jewels to buy horses from another Romani community, allowing their group to move more quickly. Many are nevertheless killed by the Nazis. The sympathetic population gives them burials and provides a chance for their comrades to meet and mourn their loss. In time, the resolute Dymitr reaches Hungary with his much-diminished group of followers, including his wife Wala (Didi Ramati), his son Roman and daughter-in-law Zoya, Zoya's family and Roman's "rival," the son of the former leader, who was killed by Nazis. All Dymitr's efforts prove futile when the Germans overthrow the Hungarian government in Hungary in 1944.

A Nazi column takes the captive Romani to Auschwitz, where the infamous Col. Kruger (Jan Machulski) has been performing medical experiments conducted on prisoners. Before their arrival, Dymitr's daughter escapes out through the window of one of the cattle trucks. At the camp. Dymitr Mirga is forced to play for the Nazis, whilst his son Roman receives minor privileges because of his skill as a translator. However, when Roman's wife Zoya dies, the young man begins to consider his father's urging that he escape. Roman approaches his friend and former rival, and recognizing that their families are marked for death, the two agree to make an attempt. The attempt succeeds, and they manage to reconnect with Roman's younger sister who escaped from the cattle truck.

The film ends with the war over. As three Romani carriages head off into a sunset, carrying—presumbly—Roman, his friend and his younger sister, the narrator concludes that the "Gypsy nation has yet to receive any compensation."

Cast

Production

The film was shot on Polish locations in Łańcut, Łódź, and Kraków.[4]

Releases

The film had 1988 theatrical release in Poland under its original title of I Skrzypce Przestaly Grac and in the United States as And the Violins Stopped Playing, followed by release in Finnish theaters as Salahanke and Finnish television as Ja viulut vaikenivat, and in West Germany as Ja viulut vaikenivat. DVD release in 2003 included DVD extras of Orion trailers, video clips speaking about the film and its history, and clips about the film's stars.[5] The film was exhibited in 2008 as part of a retrospective of the works of cinematographer Edward Klosinski.[6] In Łódź the film was centerpoint and focus of a 2009 exhibition celebrating the 65th anniversary of the liquidation of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto.[7]

References
  1. Robert C. Reimer, Carol J. Reime (2012). Historical Dictionary of Holocaust Cinema. Scarecrow Press. pp. 11, 23. ISBN 978-0810867567.
  2. Ramati, Alexander (1985). And the Violins Stopped Playing: A Story of the Gypsy Holocaust. Coronet. p. 236. ISBN 0340401230.
  3. "Holocaust books tell horrors of concentration camps". The Advocate. April 12, 1987. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  4. staff. "And the Violins Stopped Playing details". The New York Times. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  5. staff. "About the film, DVD". Allrovi. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  6. "Przegląd filmów ze zdjęciami Edwarda Kłosińskiego". Onet.pl (in Polish). January 29, 2008. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  7. "Łódź: Otwarto wystawę "I skrzypce przestały grać..."". Money.pl (in Polish). August 26, 2009. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
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