With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia searches for the person he believes to be responsible for the death of his family in the death camp to kill him himself.
There are no car chases, explosions or CGI but this is gripping. A running time of 1 hr 34 min is perfect. From the little boy on the train to the ‘wrong Rudy Kurlander’ and the antisemitic cop, Zev Guttman meets a diverse range of characters on his journey. However, whilst these characters each bring something to the table, there is really only one person that you’ll be watching and that is Zev, the wannabe assassin.
Christopher Plummer is just brilliant. He died only this year at the age of 91, having acted right up to the end. He had had a stellar career; rarely, if ever, turning in a bad performance; always searching out challenging roles and not always likeable characters. He certainly created much more than his Captain Von Trapp character in The Sound of Music for which he is best known by many. In Remember he even plays the piano pieces himself, having originally trained as a concert pianist. This renaissance man finally got his Oscar in 2012, with nominations also coming in 2010 and 2018. He left it late or rather others left it late to recognise and acknowledge his talent.
This is a tale of pain, loss and revenge and a study of memory loss, justice and truth. It is certainly not a thriller but there is suspense as to what will transpire should he ever track down his Nazi prey.
Director: Atom Egoyan
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Henry Czerny, Dean Norris
PRIME | YOUTUBE
1 hour 34 min
