I Am David

PG 7.1
2003 1 hr 30 min Adventure , Drama

Based on Anne Holm's acclaimed young adult novel North to Freedom, I Am David chronicles the struggles of a 12-year-old boy who manages to flee a Communist concentration camp on his own -- through sheer will and determination. All he has in his possession is a loaf of bread, a letter to deliver to someone in Denmark and a compass to help get him there.

  • Cast:
    Ben Tibber , Jim Caviezel , Joan Plowright , Hristo Shopov , Silvia De Santis , Paco Reconti , Roberto Attias

Reviews

Lawbolisted
2003/12/03

Powerful

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Greenes
2003/12/04

Please don't spend money on this.

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FeistyUpper
2003/12/05

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

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Glucedee
2003/12/06

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

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jpvl1
2003/12/07

Just beautiful. Quiet emotional.Scenery , music stunning

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Kirpianuscus
2003/12/08

a history lesson. more profound than you expect. an admirable young actor. who creates his character with his all senses. a way. meets. and landscapes. and a terrible manner of experiences to give strange, dark and not ordinary meanings to the life. a film who escapes from the easy solutions temptation. and who transforms the viewer in part of a special experience about survive. it is not comfortable to define or write the right review about a film about pain and courage. about the force and the wisdom to survive. and this does it an useful lesson of history. not in ordinary way. but as the tool for understand the lives of many people from East, different ages and genres and pasts. for see. the struggle behind words. so, more than a film or a real case or a touching story. maybe, a remember. or warning.

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thinker1691
2003/12/09

Europe is one of the most complicated places on Earth. There are good countries and there are some bad ones. Set in one notorious police state, is Anne Holm's touching story called " I am David. " He is a Dutch boy (Ben Tibbler) who's parents were arrested and imprisoned when he was too young to remember why. At the age of twelve he is befriended by Johannes (James Caviezel) a fellow prisoner who mentors' the boy in the enduring nature of man as he is growing up amid the cruel, barbarous, atmosphere of a harsh Bulgarian Prison camp. Thereafter he is instructed by 'the man' (Hristo Shopov) who is a sympathetic officer risking all to help the boy. With a knapsack containing a few essentials, the boy narrowly escapes and begins a harrowing thousand mile trek towards his homeland in Denmark. During the arduous journey, the boy reflects on the horrendous treatment he and the other prisoners suffered at the hands of guards. Then too, he slowly realizes the open kindness of others as he makes his way across Europe. Eventually, he meets Sophie (Joan Plowright) a lonely swiss woman who discovers who the boy really is and helps to send him home, but not before allowing her to find a bit of solace in his eyes. The film is a wonderful college of dark images, illuminated by the bright rays of hope and panoramic scenery. Easilly recommended as a movie dedicated to the spiritual humanity of all good people. ****

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cooler_pn
2003/12/10

This movie insulting one of the most tolerant nations in the world - Bulgaria. My country during the WW2 is part of German Alliance, but she managed to save your Israelite. After coup d'etat by the communist she joins the Allies and fight against the Germans... In 50s we are part of Warsaw Treaty but we are not part of the Soviet Union. Belene Prison Camp is created for the most dangerous enemies of the republic (and inconvenient for the communist party people) but never for children. It's the most difficult for escape prison on the Balkans. It's recorded only two escapes in 70-80s. In the movie the camp looks like Germans concentration camp!? Nobody in Belene wasn't shot for soap... Obviously the entire movie is filmed in Bulgaria. Italy is Baltchik, in Switzerland have orthodoxes church... The boy managed to survive 3 weeks with chunk of bread. He managed to cross one of the most guarded borders in Europe - Bulgarian - Greece. First, after the boy is seen by the guards immediately is send operative group to capture him. The border is not only one fence, it separate on two sectors upper and downer(the actually border) on the upper has guards with dogs and fence with wires which on contact immediately signals in guard station, after the fence have 3km mine field. Crossing the border is impossible the guards shoot on sight...P.S. Sorry for the bad English.

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