Annabel Jankel's new drama tells the true story of Freddie Knoller well, but struggles to truly encapsulate his survival throughout the Holocaust
There are inherent difficulties in trying to adapt stories of Holocaust survival to the screen. Firstly, it is simply impossible for a film or television show to depict the sheer scale of the horror. Secondly, there’s always a challenging balance to strike between portraying the reality of what unfolded, versus telling an engaging story. And thirdly, the real stories themselves are often full of such astonishing details, such unlikely moments of luck, fate, destiny, divine providence – whatever you want to call it – that the on-screen versions often pale by comparison.
Desperate Journey faces all three of these intimidating challenges. It is a cinematic adaptation of the book of the same name by Holocaust survivor Freddie Knoller, recounting his experiences during World War II. Freddie (played by Danish actor Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen) and his family are Austrian Jews from Vienna. They face a rising tide of increasingly violent antisemitism as the Nazis incorporate Austria into the Third Reich through the 1938 Anschluss. His parents are only able to secure a single visa for one of their two children to escape to America. Believing Freddie to be more of a survivor, they give it to his younger brother. Freddie is smuggled across the border into France instead, leaving his family behind.
He makes his way to Paris, where he is hired by a hustler named Christos (Fernando Guallar) who works at a nightclub brothel. Freddie’s native German is useful for roping Nazi soldiers into the establishment – including the sinister Officer Kurt (Til Schweiger). There, Freddie falls in love with glamourous showgirl Jaqueline (Clara Rugaard). As Paris becomes increasingly dangerous, Freddie agrees to help the French Resistance in return for fake papers that will help him get to England.
The real story of Freddie Knoller is so sprawling that it’s a sensible creative decision for Desperate Journey to focus primarily on the Paris portion of his tale. The film does a solid job of portraying the flamboyance of the Parisian nightclub scene, with long takes of choreographed musical numbers featuring chorus lines of scantily-clad dancers. It’s easy to understand why Freddie would be entranced by this underground world of vice and debauchery. It does perhaps veer a little too close towards glamourising what was in reality a deeply seedy, dangerous and exploitative environment for the women employed within it.
The story speeds along at a fierce pace, delivering plenty of tension and drama as Freddie tries to avoid detection despite being constantly surrounded by Nazis. There’s nice chemistry between Lynggaard Tønnesen and Rugaard, and their romance comes with a real gut-punch of a twist. Some of the other performances aren’t quite as convincing, however, and much of the dialogue is rather clunky.
It's also fair to say the film never entirely escapes the trap of being based on a true story that’s too incredible to fully capture on screen. In its relatively brisk 1h47m runtime, Desperate Journey only touches the surface of what the real Freddie Knoller went through.
Nonetheless, it’s an amazing tale. And at a time when antisemitism is once again on the march, it’s an important reminder of where such hatred inevitably leads.
By Barney Pell Scholes
Desperate Journey is out in cinemas now.