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Plot

The French/Italian/Yugoslav concentration camp drama Kapo stars Susan Strasberg, who several years earlier had originated the title role in the Broadway production The Diary of Anne Frank. Here, Ms. Strasberg is once again a European Jewish teenager victimized by the Nazis. Interred in a concentration camp, Strasberg is befriended by the camp's kindly doctor, who helps her hide her true identity and work as a camp guard, or "kapo." Unfortunately, Strasberg's new found power goes to her head, and her abuse of that power is very nearly on the same level as the Nazis. Brought down to earth by the death of a close friend, Strasberg spearheads an escape attempt, sacrificing her own life in the process. Nominated for a best foreign picture Oscar in 1960, Kapo nonetheless did not find an American distributor until 1964.
MPAA Rating:
Not Rated
Genre(s):
Drama,War
Run Time:
116min.
Theatrical Release Date:
02/01/1996
Distributor(s):
Miramax
Director(s):
Gillo Pontecorvo
Starring:
Didi Perego , Gianni Garko , Emmanuelle Riva , Susan Strasberg , Laurent Terzieff
Themes:
Crimes Against Humanity,Women During Wartime
Tone:
Ironic,Downbeat,Forceful,Gritty,Literate,Stirring
Keywords:
Holocaust,Judaism,Nazism,POW/MIA,Russia,atrocity,camp,capture,child,concentration-camp,doctor/nurse,family,friendship,help,identity,impersonation,love,power,prison,sacrifice,security-guard,self-sacrifice,suicide,survivor,teenagers,war,war-atrocities
Country of Origin:
Italy (09-29-1960)
Language:
Italian