Did a great job of balancing the tragedies these children had endured against the well-meaning but often shockingly clumsy and insensitive attempts of the professionals at the centre to help them. Nobody could really understand what these children had lived through at first but the film dealt with this subtly. This film adds another interesting angle to the telling of the Holocaust story.
43 Reviews
Moving, thoughtful drama
tocanepauli29 January 2020
Really enjoyed (if that is the right word to use?) this movie. To realise it was true really makes you think and feel sheer sorrow for these poor children. Well acted and portrayed. To see the real people at the end was a fitting finish to this movie. This should be the type of movie they should show, and discuss , at schools everywhere.
Lucky for the unlucky ones
ks-6050019 February 2020
It's really brutal for Jewish victims suffer from the Nazi era. The children scare of dogs, crave for a slice of bread, missing family who is alive or dead, bad dreams always. Again, it reveals the painful history of war brings to us. The movie execute nicely and not bored as mentioned
by some reviews. As long as you have sympathy, you will enjoy the movie.
Children of the New Forest
Lejink27 September 2020
I must admit I didn't know of this true-life story of hundreds of mostly orphaned young Jewish children from Nazi Germany being settled at different locations in Britain immediately after the end of the Second World War, with the bulk of them being taken to a settlement at the scenic Lake Windermere. Having known only terror and persecution and been forcibly separated from their families at some of the most infamous concentration camps, they face the challenge of adapting to life on their own in a new country with unfamiliar surroundings, a different language and not always friendly natives.
These are children naturally traumatised by their experiences, suffering from the memories of losing their loved ones and now facing new challenges to adapt to a wholly alien environment thrown together with like-situationed youngsters their own age they've mostly never met before. None of them speak English either and we see them undergoing a rudimentary education and other methods of acclimatisation all to help them adjust to a post-War world.
Under the benign patronage of the facility head, Oscar Friedmann, bearing a strong resemblance in fact to Liam Neeson's Oscar Schindler, and his support staff, most prominently featuring a female art teacher who encourages the children to express themselves in paint and a crusty old Scottish P.E. teacher keen to get a football team up to play the local boys, they gradually come round to accepting that they have a reason to live and can go forward with their lives. For some, this is more difficult to believe than others and there's a trenchant scene where they learn the official fate of their loved ones back home, via Red Cross notification although for one young boy there's a faint hope that his older brother may somehow still be alive.
Examples of familiar prejudices from some of the locals are shown too, plus some humour centring around the misadventures of a particular gang of four who raid the kitchen to enjoy some alfresco dining and also at the afore-mentioned football match which finally comes together. These lighter scenes are contrasted with others which remind us of the horrors the children have left behind, which we see in their reactions to the barking of even a small dog or to receiving a limitless supply of bread at breakfast as they immediately all run to hide the precious bounty away.
The film ended poignantly, again in "Schindler's List" fashion, with the depicted youngsters' real-life, now aged adult counterparts returning to the same spot over seventy years later with their own positive recollections of their time there.
This was a low-key production with several shots of the comfortingly beautiful Windermere landscape, a plaintive string quartet soundtrack, unobtrusive direction and fine ensemble acting by young and old alike, although perhaps some of the individual stories could have been developed a bit more and one wonders why there was no corresponding attention afforded to the young girls in their number.
Nevertheless,with refugee crises in different parts of the world today still an ongoing issue, this was a sympathetic thought-provoking treatment of the subject which hopefully will resonate with contemporary viewers.
These are children naturally traumatised by their experiences, suffering from the memories of losing their loved ones and now facing new challenges to adapt to a wholly alien environment thrown together with like-situationed youngsters their own age they've mostly never met before. None of them speak English either and we see them undergoing a rudimentary education and other methods of acclimatisation all to help them adjust to a post-War world.
Under the benign patronage of the facility head, Oscar Friedmann, bearing a strong resemblance in fact to Liam Neeson's Oscar Schindler, and his support staff, most prominently featuring a female art teacher who encourages the children to express themselves in paint and a crusty old Scottish P.E. teacher keen to get a football team up to play the local boys, they gradually come round to accepting that they have a reason to live and can go forward with their lives. For some, this is more difficult to believe than others and there's a trenchant scene where they learn the official fate of their loved ones back home, via Red Cross notification although for one young boy there's a faint hope that his older brother may somehow still be alive.
Examples of familiar prejudices from some of the locals are shown too, plus some humour centring around the misadventures of a particular gang of four who raid the kitchen to enjoy some alfresco dining and also at the afore-mentioned football match which finally comes together. These lighter scenes are contrasted with others which remind us of the horrors the children have left behind, which we see in their reactions to the barking of even a small dog or to receiving a limitless supply of bread at breakfast as they immediately all run to hide the precious bounty away.
The film ended poignantly, again in "Schindler's List" fashion, with the depicted youngsters' real-life, now aged adult counterparts returning to the same spot over seventy years later with their own positive recollections of their time there.
This was a low-key production with several shots of the comfortingly beautiful Windermere landscape, a plaintive string quartet soundtrack, unobtrusive direction and fine ensemble acting by young and old alike, although perhaps some of the individual stories could have been developed a bit more and one wonders why there was no corresponding attention afforded to the young girls in their number.
Nevertheless,with refugee crises in different parts of the world today still an ongoing issue, this was a sympathetic thought-provoking treatment of the subject which hopefully will resonate with contemporary viewers.
Amazingly Unknown True Story
drdavecanham27 January 2020
Strangely Unaffecting
CitizenCaine30 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Many films have been made of unique Holocaust related issues, scenarios and subjects. This is one of them. The children of Windermere were a group of refugees who made their way to England during the Holocaust to recover and ultimately resettle and make new lives. The film begins promisingly with the children's expected mistrust of their hosts and over-appreciation for simple slices of bread once in England. After the initial opening scenes and expected adaptation difficulties, the film combines scattered scenes featuring a few of the refugees, but they don't add up to much until near the end. The last ten minutes or so are great, leading up to some of the actual refugees thoughts in old age. For such a unique story, even for the Holocaust, the scenes are not really linked in a way that is compelling enough given the subject matter. We never learn enough about the characters, based on real people, to care enough about what happens, and the film loses some steam half way through before picking up again in the last half hour. Still worth a watch to learn about another of one of the many pockets of people affected by the Holocaust. 2 1/2 of 4 stars.
Breathtaking
mpmaster-7340328 January 2020
As someone who's grandparents was a Windermere child, I have no complaints and only praise to speak of this masterpiece. Will definitely be a classic and I must say, Marek Wroblewski's acting was elite and he's definitely one to watch out for. Amazing experience.
compelling real stories
SnoopyStyle9 November 2020
After WWII, Britain takes in hundreds of Jewish orphans who survived the concentration camps. About a hundred head off to a former airplane factory in the countryside near Lake Windermere.
This is based on the real people and the real place. The real stories are compelling without added drama. There are some push-back from the locals. I would like the film to balance it by highlighting the support. The other issue is that I want more of Bela and the younglings. I wanted to rail against this movie's Karen but one never knows someone's wartime loss. The real stories are devastating and heartwarming.
This is based on the real people and the real place. The real stories are compelling without added drama. There are some push-back from the locals. I would like the film to balance it by highlighting the support. The other issue is that I want more of Bela and the younglings. I wanted to rail against this movie's Karen but one never knows someone's wartime loss. The real stories are devastating and heartwarming.
Extraordinarily good
stevojaxon29 January 2020
Congratulations to the film-makers. Something original to my way of thinking. The brilliance of this movie cannot be underestimated. The feeling I got all the way through was that of getting the details right. Its astonishing how good the child actors were in their roles. Some of the early scenes are incredibly well done and the amount of thought that went into this is much appreciated. I want to describe in detail some of my favorite scenes but that may spoil your seeing it for yourself. I expect a lot of people who see it will rate it very highly and will be much better off for the experience.
Unique Movie
omeralaa1 October 2020
After every new war movie I ask myself one question, Was this story should've been filmed or is it just a new war movie that doesn't have a special thing?
In this case I didn't think a lot, the answer was obvious, this story is really unique and I didn't know about it before, and the fact of that this story is a true story makes me wonder why the hell didn't any filmmaker tried to film it before?
Stories like this are hidden from the screen because the filmmakers are busy with remaking Disney's animated movies.
The story was heart-touching, the first act was really hard to see, as those trying to adapt to a new lifestyle, which is? the life of freedom, the life that they never have seen it before, although all of this if I'd make "A feel-good movie" list, I think I'll put this movie in it.
The movie isn't about showing sympathy to those children, it's a message of hope.
It's the first movie that I saw from Michael Samuels, but GOD! I liked his cinematic style a lot, his choice of pale and dark colors in the first act then they get brighter and brighter was brilliant. And by talking about colors I'd love to appreciate the cinematography. But I think the most effective tool for him was the music. The music had played an important role in delivering emotions to the audience no tool could've.
But there was a big problem for me, the dialogue. It was well-arranged to the level of poetic, I asked myself "Would a character with this backstory really say that?" a lot in this movie, there were sentences that seem more like speeches from the mature older version of those characters.
It's the first movie that I saw from Michael Samuels, but GOD! I liked his cinematic style a lot, his choice of pale and dark colors in the first act then they get brighter and brighter was brilliant. And by talking about colors I'd love to appreciate the cinematography. But I think the most effective tool for him was the music. The music had played an important role in delivering emotions to the audience no tool could've.
But there was a big problem for me, the dialogue. It was well-arranged to the level of poetic, I asked myself "Would a character with this backstory really say that?" a lot in this movie, there were sentences that seem more like speeches from the mature older version of those characters.
What an Amazing Movie that was..
dimitris-kara27 April 2020
What can you say about this masterpiece?!
This is a story that can inspire people to move on from every problem, no matter its size. The characters grow naturally as the film progresses and each moment is happier and more joyfull than the other. Iain's performance is eye catching and I am shortlisting this film as an academy contender, in my eyes at least.
Children of the Holocaust
sellersev6 March 2020
A slow-moving film about the saved children of the holocaust. Survivors from the past and strugglers of the present. These Polish children resided at Windermere while waiting for what future will bring. A movie to see if you love period films and stories from WWII.
Most Mature Biopic Movie Ever.
baapoo11 February 2020
This movie proved us that even movies which are paying tribute and kudos to some fellas can still be a masterpiece. This was amazingly directed with beautiful writing and cinematography. This is indeed a most mature and subtle biopic I have ever seen.
Incredibly moving
claretrigg30 January 2020
This was a brilliant dramatisation of the rehabilitation of child Holocaust survivors at the Calgarth Estate in the Lake District. I didn't actually know about this and feel proud that that British Government took these children in. This is a depiction of human compassion and kindness in action. We did not have to take these children in, but we did and they flourished here, despite the unimaginable suffering they had endured. I challenge you not to cry, particularly at the end.
Amazing
stevencholt28 January 2020
Worth Watching
barrelhousegutboy29 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Man's capacity for cruelty and kindness at times is tough to reconcile. I am fairly well versed on WWII history but I had never heard of Windermere before. While the movie does due diligence on the children, about half the movie focuses on the staff. What an extraordinary display of dignity and compassion. The people of the UK as well, though done by proxy, they provided 4 months to give strangers a chance at a time their own chances were somewhat less than assured.
Solid production value and journeyman performances propel the story at near light speed, the 88 minutes goes by fast (88? a cosmic muffin or subliminal message?) but gently carries an important message that is too easy to forget. There but by the grace of God go I. Be excellent to one another.
To the 'Daughters of Dresden' reviewer if such a movie was made I would go see it. Nobody in Europe during that time escaped unharmed and the suffering and despair of the German people brought on by the vindictiveness of the treaty of Versailles all but guaranteed an orator like Hitler's ascension. I want to thank you because it was your review that decided I should watch it.
To the 'Daughters of Dresden' reviewer if such a movie was made I would go see it. Nobody in Europe during that time escaped unharmed and the suffering and despair of the German people brought on by the vindictiveness of the treaty of Versailles all but guaranteed an orator like Hitler's ascension. I want to thank you because it was your review that decided I should watch it.
Moving and thought provoking
con-fan25 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I cried several times during this film, just imagining the pain and suffering of these children not only during the camps but then often realizing their entire families were just gone forever and they were on their own. I can't even grasp and understand enough how this happened, the horrible cruelty inflicted on so many people during WWII. The scenery in the area was stunning and a welcome relief to the sadness. Really disliked some of those English people in the village. I had never known this happened. How in the world did these children survive and how did they go from this start in life to becoming successful and owning businesses? I thought it was a wonderful film because I never knew about this event although I have watched many WWII films. No it wasn't always a perfect film, and maybe could have given more background of their lives, or shown more of the life beyond Windermere, but the point of the movie was to show that 4 months that gave them some small comforts, hope and a new start.
A missed opportunity
lbailey-3872414 April 2020
I had high hopes for this movie as someone who lives in a village very close to the locale of this story, and also has a deep interest in WW2 Britain and Europe. I am sure that the story of these children is an amazing one, unfortunately the movie seems to gloss over the process of their rehabilitation with a startling vagueness. The first 20 minutes showed promise as we see the children arrive at Windermere, clearly in a state of mental anguish from their experiences. From this point until the end, however, we see a couple of shots of the children having nightmares, playing a game of football and going swimming in the lake and one hour later they seem to be ready to go out in to the world. I can't help but think the true story was much more interesting than this, but that the directors/writers failed to portray it in enough detail. As another reviewer has pointed out, the final 5 minutes were by far the best as we are treated to short interviews with 5 of the surviving children in modern day.
To add insult to injury, Romola Garai plays the role of a therapist with one of the most laughably hammy German-English accents that the other actual Germans on set must have found hilarious. What a shame!
Powerful. Emotional. Compelling
michaelrwaxman28 January 2020
An all round fantastic piece of cinema. What these children went through is unimaginable but, through a wonderful script and masterful acting, we were able to almost touch it, feeling the raw emotion right through. Well done to all involved.
One of the Most Moving Movies Of the Year!
OblanskHiggs17 March 2020
History, horror & redemption distilled into a gem
via-helena27 January 2020
A Treasure Trove of Hope, Patience, Generosity and Survival
skpn12320 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
A great cast give us a snapshot of the children and staff of a camp set up on the Calgarth Estate in Troutbeck Bridge, near Lake Windermere, England. Establishing a sense of safety was the goal but I did not like the burning of their clothes scene - showed a lack of understanding of their needs and experiences.
Teaching them English, re-creating a sense of connection and 'family' and consolidating their strengths led to many of them integrating beautifully into British Society with knighthoods, MBEs and olympians among them. The film portrayed the unique characters and gifts of each. A wonderful treasure was footage of the real people as Seniors at Lake Windermere.
Teaching them English, re-creating a sense of connection and 'family' and consolidating their strengths led to many of them integrating beautifully into British Society with knighthoods, MBEs and olympians among them. The film portrayed the unique characters and gifts of each. A wonderful treasure was footage of the real people as Seniors at Lake Windermere.
A blurring of truth and fiction
pipaluk-854874 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This is a very light-weight production about a serious topic with a lot of dubious lines and scenes.
Instead of spending a lot of time on interesting topics like the story of Bela and the toddlers and the individual psychological damage and treatment of other camp survivors, more time is spent on the scenes with the Scottish football coach and the training for a match at the end.
There are many dubious scenes which are likely to be untrue to the story and unhelpful to a film advertised as showing authentic history. The list below contains some dubious scenes.
1. It is very unlikely that the camp survivors spoke one language: in the film it is Polish. The camps were a Tower of Babel. Yiddish was a common lingua franca, but Hungarian, Russian, and many others would be heard. There are signs in Hebrew, but Modern Hebrew was not widely understood in the Jewish diaspora until well after the formation of the state of Israel.
2. We are all familiar with the images of gaunt, half-starved survivors, yet the Jewish boys in this film are all oddly beefy, muscular types who can easily overpower the feeble English youths. 3. Perversely, the English youths are portrayed as anti-immigrant hooligans who taunt the Jewish boys with Nazi salutes.
3. Rationing for clothing did not end in Britain until 1949, and food rationing only ended in 1954, yet the English teenage girls are shown as buxom Essex-girl types in gaudy dresses who like to hang around smiling and winking at the muscular Jewish camp survivors. Ironically, food rationing ended in Germany in 1950.
4. Very oddly, one of the Jewish boys is portrayed as a girl-hungry type of lad who is eager to learn English to chat up the local girls. He is not meant to be an American GI - over sexed and over here: he is a traumatized youth who has lost his family in the Holocaust. 5. The girls and boys did not come straight from the concentration camps and they were certainly not in the notorious striped uniforms. Their clothing seemed quite acceptable, yet, on arrival the girls and boys have to strip together and their clothing is burned. The bizarre thing is that they are not given any other clothing for about a third of the film. One teenage girl, Sala Feiermann, is seen for a large part of the film, in the company of boys, romping about both the camp and also the village in only her pristine camisole and 1940s French knickers. Even today that would traumatise many girls, but in 1940s Britain, that would caused more than a stir.
6. The most disturbing dubious scene, is when a boy Jewish survivor dumps his Jewish girlfriend, Sala Feiermann, also a Holocaust survivor, with the sexual innuendo that she will quickly find another boy because they all know what girls did to survive in the camps. Not only is this a slur on all female survivors, in addition there has never been any reliable evidence that sexual favours granted salvation in the camps.
Of course, even if it was not the norm, no matter how rare, the stories need to be heard. But this film does not achieve anything by glibly containing one causal nasty remark suggesting it was the norm. It was not the norm and sadly most Jewish women prisoners faced a worse, unavoidable fate. A one-off comment in a film like this, from a fellow male survivor, is a form of victim blaming or slut shaming. If these incidents were able to take place, surely the female is as much a victim as the man who steals bread from another prisoner? The film should have shown the same degree of compassion, if its ambit was to show how victims recovered.
Instead of spending a lot of time on interesting topics like the story of Bela and the toddlers and the individual psychological damage and treatment of other camp survivors, more time is spent on the scenes with the Scottish football coach and the training for a match at the end.
There are many dubious scenes which are likely to be untrue to the story and unhelpful to a film advertised as showing authentic history. The list below contains some dubious scenes.
1. It is very unlikely that the camp survivors spoke one language: in the film it is Polish. The camps were a Tower of Babel. Yiddish was a common lingua franca, but Hungarian, Russian, and many others would be heard. There are signs in Hebrew, but Modern Hebrew was not widely understood in the Jewish diaspora until well after the formation of the state of Israel.
2. We are all familiar with the images of gaunt, half-starved survivors, yet the Jewish boys in this film are all oddly beefy, muscular types who can easily overpower the feeble English youths. 3. Perversely, the English youths are portrayed as anti-immigrant hooligans who taunt the Jewish boys with Nazi salutes.
3. Rationing for clothing did not end in Britain until 1949, and food rationing only ended in 1954, yet the English teenage girls are shown as buxom Essex-girl types in gaudy dresses who like to hang around smiling and winking at the muscular Jewish camp survivors. Ironically, food rationing ended in Germany in 1950.
4. Very oddly, one of the Jewish boys is portrayed as a girl-hungry type of lad who is eager to learn English to chat up the local girls. He is not meant to be an American GI - over sexed and over here: he is a traumatized youth who has lost his family in the Holocaust. 5. The girls and boys did not come straight from the concentration camps and they were certainly not in the notorious striped uniforms. Their clothing seemed quite acceptable, yet, on arrival the girls and boys have to strip together and their clothing is burned. The bizarre thing is that they are not given any other clothing for about a third of the film. One teenage girl, Sala Feiermann, is seen for a large part of the film, in the company of boys, romping about both the camp and also the village in only her pristine camisole and 1940s French knickers. Even today that would traumatise many girls, but in 1940s Britain, that would caused more than a stir.
6. The most disturbing dubious scene, is when a boy Jewish survivor dumps his Jewish girlfriend, Sala Feiermann, also a Holocaust survivor, with the sexual innuendo that she will quickly find another boy because they all know what girls did to survive in the camps. Not only is this a slur on all female survivors, in addition there has never been any reliable evidence that sexual favours granted salvation in the camps.
Of course, even if it was not the norm, no matter how rare, the stories need to be heard. But this film does not achieve anything by glibly containing one causal nasty remark suggesting it was the norm. It was not the norm and sadly most Jewish women prisoners faced a worse, unavoidable fate. A one-off comment in a film like this, from a fellow male survivor, is a form of victim blaming or slut shaming. If these incidents were able to take place, surely the female is as much a victim as the man who steals bread from another prisoner? The film should have shown the same degree of compassion, if its ambit was to show how victims recovered.
This is a Great Show and Should be a Piece of WW II History
bshaef7 April 2020
Writing, acting, packing, cinematography are superb. I never gave any thought as to how these childred were brought back to the land of living after their years in the camps and the obliteration of their parents. I could live another hundred years and still not understand why the Germans were so savage to a large segment of humanity. Maybe some day someone will make a movie explaining their cruel actions.
Shown From a Holocaust Perspective Not Normally Seen
asc8515 June 2020
The problem with the "Holocaust Genre" of the last 10-20 years is that it has become very repetitive. How many times am I watching pretty much the same plots and conventions again and again and again? So what I especially liked about "The Windermere Children" is that it's showing a side of the Holocaust that we don't normally see. In this case, children who survived the concentration camps, and are sent to England to get rehabilitated. And certainly the final few minutes of the film are quite moving, and reminded me of how they ended Schindler's List. Will most likely be one of the 10 best movies I will see in 2020.
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