Too much of everything

Nice effects though.

Instant Favorite.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is not made of real situations but it has happened. Because I'm sure that is was a few boys and girls who get away from home, just like Haley Joel. I think that this movie is important for other people as well. You know, when we, who lives in the 21th century, doesn't live anymore, people in 100 years can see the movie and think "Oh, that war WAS no good". But we who has grown up with the story a quite familiar with it, or aren't we?Haley Joel Osment is awesome. Think, that a 13 year-old boy, who don't know the past really, just go out there and act that good. Some say he's just a actor, but i say that he's a genius. There hasn't been any better actor/actress ever. There is just one single question: When do Haley Joel Osment win his first Acadmy Award for best male actor?

I rented this film because I am a fan of Osmet. I was surprised by the performances of almost all the child actors in this film. Liam Hess stole the show. I would have rated this film higher, but the story seemed to meander with no real point at times. The film is very dark and somber throughout but what would you expect from a "holocost" film. The central story is about two boys (one jew and one catholic) who end up living together and experiencing some of the atrocities perpetrated on the jews during WWII by the Germans. The Catholic boy (Liam Hess), who is receiving teachings from the local priest before his first communion decides to mimic the life of Jesus (for what reason I'm not sure) and draws all the other local children into his game. As the film progresses, the story becomes more serious and the Tolo's "games" become more realistic.

An absolutely fabulous film.I have just finished watching this film on DVD and I would like to say that it is one of the very best films I have seen for some time. The film, I think, is based from an almost total child's eye view and is pulled of to great effect. The performances from all of them main characters were truly remarkable, and all with very convincing accents, not easy I would imagine for such young actors. However, the entire film is stolen by the performance of one actor, Liam Hess. His performance made the film for me. His acting was superb and believable (as was his accent) and indeed with such a difficult subject that the film was addressing; it makes the film all the more brilliant.I am surprised that this film is almost three years old, and I have not heard of it before this? Was this an oversight on my part or was the film just not `pushed' at the box office? (Spoilers?) The subject contained within the film is a very difficult one to handle and it takes a very skilled team of actors and directors etc. to make sure that the films works, here they do it very well. There are some harrowing scenes, such as the shooting of the peasants and the killing of the boy, which turned the film from a simple yarn into something much more complex. Indeed, it is quite ironic that the killing of the Polish boy, near to the end, caused the life of the Jewish boy to be saved, perhaps some poetic justice? The holocaust is such a terrible thing in the history of the world, and is a very difficult subject to discuss today, however with films like this is makes the subject just that little bit easier to tackle.I give this film 9/10 and would say that this is certainly one for the collection.

I consider this film to be the best one with Haley J. Osment. I must admit that first I watched it only because HJO was starring in it (and because the film was shot in my country, ie Poland). Not only does Haley play wonderfully, but also the film itself is very good, mixing the times of WWII with the fragile construction of children's psyche. The film was made in Poland, so it was very nice to see Haley playing in Polish landscapes. I must say I am very surprised that the film was not yet released in the US. In Poland it was shown in cinemas in 2001. In January 2003 the film was released on DVD. A few weeks ago (November 2003) the movie was on TV so it had really wide audience. I don't understand why such a good movie was not released in the US !! If you want, you can write to me: (make sure it's o2, and not 02).