Imagine film dedicated to the talented boxer with more than impressive fight record and its boxing scenes being the least interesting part of it. Such films must have extraordinary plot, which is the case with Triumph of the Spirit, 1989 period drama directed by Robert M. Young. Protagonist, played by Willem Dafoe, is Salomo Arouch, young stevedore from Greek port city of Salonica who discovered talent for boxing and in 1939 won the title of All-Balkans Middleweight Champion. He is also a Jew and in 1943, during German occupation of Greece, he and his family get deported to Auschwitz concentration camp. Upon arrival, Salomo, his father (played by Robert Loggia) and brother Avram (played by Costas Mandylor) are deemed fit to work and allowed to live, while the rest of family is sent to gas chamber. Salomo has soon to face hunger and brutality. One day he gets in altercation with “Kapo” and brings attention of SS Major Rauscher (played by Hartmut Becker) who learns about his boxing past. Rauscher arranges boxing matches between Salomo and other prisoners, which are source of entertainment for SS guards and after which the loser gets executed. Salomo proves to be undefeated and his victories bring small benefits like less harsh working schedule and extra food. While he tries to survive with the help of Gypsy (played by Edward James Olmos), “Kapo” who also serves as camp’s entertainer and “fixer”, his girlfriend Allegra (played by Wendy Gazelle) tries to survive in women’s section of the camp.
Robert M. Young, director best known for his work on documentaries and independently produced dramas, had rather decent budget and his disposal and was even privileged to become first film maker to use actual Auschwitz locations for live action film. This allowed Triumph of the Spirit to become one of the most authentic portrayals of Holocaust, allowing audience to familiarise with many details of that grim chapter of 20th Century. The actual premise behind the plot, however, wasn’t very original; there had been other boxers in Auschwitz forced to fight for their lives and their stories inspired films before (1962 Czechoslovak film The Boxer and Death) and afterwards (2020 Polish film Champion and 2021 Barry Levinson’s biopic Survivor). Script by Andrzej Krakowski and Laurence Heath, however, mostly fails to explore terrible moral dilemmas of protagonist and other people forced to chose between survival and last vestiges of morality. Furthermore, despite the plot slightly straying from the actual real events for the sake of increased drama, Triumph of the Spirit doesn’t provide coherent narrative whole. This is especially evident at the ending, which is quite anti-cathartic and has to rely on ending titles exposition to provide some sort of happy ending. Young, on the other hand, directs film with great skill and also enjoys very good cast. Dafoe, who plays character who was few decades younger than him in real life, is relatively subdued and easily overshadowed by Robert Loggia as his father. But the best performance belong to Young’s associate Edward James Olmos who plays enigmatic character who begins as just another “kapo” thug only to be revealed as talented entertainer and something of a mentor and father figure to protagonist. Olmos makes this watchable enough, but most viewers that are interested in exploration of Holocaust would probably be better served by classics like Shoah or Schindler’s List.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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