The romantic relationship with the “good Nazi” is a little too glib (quite as it was in the film version of Suite Française) and the camp scenes have a misjudged sheen of romanticism and come perilously close to the bad-taste border. By the end of the movie, my jaw felt unhinged from dropping so often. A love scene between Leyna and Lutz leans rather far into a notion that while National Socialism might have been devastating for humanity in general, it could do wonders for one teenage girl’s sexual awakening. Lutz (George MacKay) is a young Nazi officer who falls in love with her in 1944; they are separated by the war as the Reich collapses and Leyna is finally sent to a concentration camp where Lutz has inevitably been posted as a guard. Share. ‘Where Hands Touch’ Review – More Offensive than Romantic. I agree with the filmmaker Amma Asante that their stories should be … As the movie plods on, Leyna meets Lutz (George MacKay), the fresh-faced son of a Nazi bureaucrat who is more gung-ho about Hitler’s crusade than his father is. There is nothing wrong with the movie or the content of the movie simply a beautiful story that was needed to be told the premise and the time when it occurred was just too much controversial the performances of the actors and the director is … Topics. “Where Hands Touch” examines the life of 15-year-old Leyna (Amandla Stenberg) who comes of age by having her first sexual experience with an “Aryan” member of the Hitler Youth. Review: ‘Where Hands Touch,’ Set in Nazi Germany, Is a Disturbing Misfire, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/movies/where-hands-touch-review.html, Abbie Cornish, left, and Amandla Stenberg in “Where Hands Touch.”. No matter how much humiliation she’s subjected to, Leyna is determined to assert her German identity. Where Hands Touch ** Dir: Amma Asante. Where Hands Touch begins in Germany in 1944. Where Hands Touch still manages to be a well-acted historical drama that depicts World War II from a different point of view. 100% Praiseworthy. All the controversy about this movie could have been avoided if people read a History book: Hitler Youth was mandatory for all … Commenting has been disabled at this time but you can still. In Nazi Germany during World War II there were 25,000 people of color, many of whom were killed by their fellow Germans. But Stenberg’s performance is good and there is a shrewd contribution from Christopher Eccleston as Heinz, Lutz’s cynical and careworn dad. (The actors playing these goons, who, like almost everyone else in the film speak in English with German accents, sound as if they’ve watched too many episodes of “Hogan’s Heroes.”) The family moves to Berlin, which turns out not to be a great idea. Where Hands Touch review – misjudged interracial Nazi-era romance Amandla Stenberg plays a biracial teenager who falls for a young German officer in … Where Hands Touch, which comes to theaters on Sept. 14, was both written and directed by Amma Asante, who notably directed the film Belle.In an … April 3, 2019. What parents need to know Parents need to know that Where Hands Touch is a drama about a multiracial German girl (Amandla Stenberg) during World War II who becomes a target of Nazi aggression yet falls in love with a young Nazi soldier (George MacKay). Where Hands Touch review ... Where Hands Touch is showing at the Toronto film festival and will be released in the US on 14 September with a UK date yet to be announced. It focuses on 16-year-old bi-racial Leyna’s experience during WW2. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 42%, based on 48 reviews, with an average rating of 5.34/10. ... Where Hands Touch, a mildly problematic, but still oddly engaging, film about a young black German girl in World War II, and the relationship that sparks between her and a Nazi soldier. Perilously close to the bad-taste border … George MacKay and Amandla Stenberg in Where Hands Touch. When I reviewed Ms. Asante’s previous film, “A United Kingdom,” last year, I noted that the writer/director “addresses contemporary concerns via period romance, and her commitment to the romance is not a feint.” She tries to do something similar here, but in this film the commitment to romance is not an illuminating factor, but a fatal miscalculation. As part of Black History Month Hannah has reviewed ‘Where Hands Touch’, a film that explores the persecution of Black and mixed race people under the Nazis. 2. Movie review: Where Hands Touch. October is Black History Month which highlights the often underrepresented history of Black people in the UK and around the world. Read full review As in many Holocaust stories, violence is unrelenting and very upsetting. Reviews. Ever since Twilight (2008) made it desirable for teenagers to be in complicated relationships, the teen-films that have followed continue to up the dramatic relationship ante. Where Hands Touch review: Star-crossed romance in Nazi Germany more fantasy than reality By Paul Byrnes Updated March 26, 2019 — 2.33pm first published at 2.29pm Though based on historical events (there roughly 25,000 black Germans living in the country under the Nazis), Where Hands Touch is … Where Hands Touch | Review. Starring: Amandla Stenberg, George MacKay, Abbie Cornish and Christopher Eccleston (12A, UK, 2hrs 2mins) Going by director Amma Asante’s excellent previous films concerning interracial relationships and society, Belle and A United Kingdom, Where Hands Touch was eagerly awaited. PrattG63 5 January 2019. Some historical knowledge is required to fully understand it. The website's consensus reads, "Where Hands Touch is noteworthy for its exploration of a little-discussed corner of World War II, even if its story leaves something to be desired in the telling." In Nazi Germany during World War II there were 25,000 people of color, many of whom were killed by their fellow Germans. The movie begins in 1944 in idyllic-looking Rüdesheim, in the Rhine Valley. Amandla Stenberg plays Leyna, a young biracial woman whose mother, Kerstin (Abbie Cornish), had a relationship with a French-Senegalese soldier. I wouldn’t go as far as claiming that “Where Hands Touch,” which premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival earlier today, romanticizes Nazis as some of the early controversy surrounding the film has suspected; but when the complex, humanizing portrayal of Nazi characters and SS soldiers enter the picture, good intentions do derail fast, leading to disturbing outcomes. Asante’s original screenplay is inspired by the historical case of what were crudely called Rheinlandbastarde, mixed-race people in Nazi Germany who had been fathered by military personnel of African background in the Occupied Rhineland after the first world war. They inevitably endured endless racist harassment as well. Where Hands Touch review: a sleeve-tugging, tragically anodyne spin on history 2. The film gives us elements of melodrama and also of epic – yet there is also something a little uncomfortable about it. Where Hands Touch is just as elegantly made, but it tackles an even broader swath of history, and despite a tilt toward melodrama is even more wrenching in its emotional impact. Amandla Stenberg . Where Hands Touch uses the holocaust as a backdrop for this peculiar love story - which is every bit as puzzling as it sounds. Tim … Their secret romance is cut short when Lutz is sent on an army assignment and Leyna is thrown into a Bavarian labor camp. 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