Ayelet Zurer, Ed Stoppard, Nina Dobrev, Rachelle Lefevre, Rade Serbedzija ...( see more  see more... ) , Robbie Kay , Rosamund Pike , Stephen Dillane

A powerful and unforgettably lyrical film about love, loss and redemption, FUGITIVE PIECES tells the story of Jakob Beer, a man whose life is transformed by his childhood experiences during WWII. The ...( read more  read more... )film is based on the beloved and best-selling novel by Canadian poet Anne Michaels.

Jakob’s story (Robbie Kay) begins in Poland in 1942, when he is nine years old. Nazi soldiers have murdered his parents and abducted his teenage sister, Bella. Traumatized by this horrific event, Jakob sneaks out of his hiding place and struggles to survive. He is found by Athos Roussos (Rade Sherbedgia), a Greek archaeologist working at a Polish dig site in Biskupin. Moved by the child’s plight, Athos boldly smuggles Jakob out of Poland and hides him in his home on the island of Zakynthos in Greece, also occupied by the Germans. Jakob spends the last years of the Occupation inAthos’ tender care.

After the war, Athos and Jakob immigrate to Canada, where Athos has accepted a teaching position with a University. As he matures, Jakob (now played by Stephen Dillane) begins a new life, studying, writing, and eventually falling in love with Alex (Rosamund Pike), a beautiful youngwoman. Yet he remains haunted by his parents' death and the question of his sister's fate. This terrible burden makes it impossible for him to live in the moment or to accept love when it is offered to him. Writing offers some relief, but it is not until he meets Michaela (Ayelet Zurer), a gentle soul who truly understands -- and accepts -- his pain, that Jakob allows himself to jointhe living. The lessons he learns become a legacy to Ben (Ed Stoppard), a child of survivors whose life intersects with Jakob’s in meaningful ways.

Flixster Users

60% liked it

32,594 ratings

Critics

66% liked it

68 critics

R, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Jeremy Podeswa

Release Date: May 2, 2008

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DVD Release Date: October 14, 2008

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Stats: 232 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (232)


  • September 14, 2009
    I found this a gripping movie. Life is not easy for Holocaust survivors. We follow the life of a Jakob who looses he parents and sister to the Nazi's. He has troubles letting his memories go - he needs to retain them, but not forgetting means he cannot love. The acting by Rob...( read more)bie Kay who played Jakob as a nine year old was amazing.
  • April 30, 2008
    Moving, beautifully crafted, unbelievable performances, direct, poetic, raw. I was so moved by this film, I find it hard to compose complete sentences to describe it. This movie touched and inspired every cell in my body. The acting by the entire cast was precise and authentic. H...( read more)ow were they able to compile this cast? How did they manage to extract these performances? The writing is intelligent, sensitive, moving and direct. This is a rare script. Each scene in this movie required such an investment by the entire film crew to reach its rare authenticity. The courage it would take to produce this film escapes me. While the result deserves the highest awards, this is not a film that was made for the sake of popularity. This film feels like a labor of love and the result of the truest of intentions. My hat is off to anyone who participated in this film.
  • July 27, 2009
    A very moving story of a young boy who during the occupation of Nazi Germany, watches a soldiers execute his family and drag off his sister to the woods to do who knows what, we see his life story, the man who harbored him, and the relationships he has as he grows older. Its a go...( read more)od story, but for adults. Have to give it 4 stars.
  • April 15, 2009
    Fugitive Pieces - He found himself in the love around him..



    Fragments of past and present create a haunting kaleidoscope of words and emotions. Lyrical and complex, Jeremy Podeswa's adaptation of Anne Michael's beloved novel builds into a breathtaking mosaic as fragm...( read more)ents of the past and present reveal the inner depths of a writer who can't let go of the ghosts that haunt him. Athos is directing an archaological dig in Nazi-occupied Poland when he discovers a little boy hiding. After witnessing the massacre of members of his family, seven-year-old Jakob does not know the fate of his beloved sister Bella - a mystery that will haunt him for the rest of his life. As Jakob grows into a man, he becomes progressively more consumed by his family's tragedy and his longing for Bella, coloring his relationships. A truly moving and unforgettable story.



    good movie..
  • February 9, 2010
    A beautiful, poignant and a remarkable tale about a Holocaust survivor. The book that is.....however great literature is often not the friend of film adapters. The film had a promising start then became quite dull towards the half of the film. The one fatal flaw is that I couldn ...( read more)t feel the connection, the pain and suffering he went through when he was a child during the Nazi occupation in Poland. He,actor Dillane provides a flat portrayal that dooms Jakob as an adult. Jumping back and forth the way the film does only turns a complicated, traumatized man into a passive cipher.
  • September 14, 2009
    A-bloody-mazing. I need this book, the story is as intriguing as it is compelling and it is told in a really beautiful manner. To be honest, I'm kinda sad most of you have picked this as a 'not interested'. I guess it's not for everyone. [review TBC].
  • September 7, 2009
    Brilliant. A wonderful script, amazing performances, great direction....you could tell this movie was a labor of love. I don't know the book but I'm sure it's even more moving than the film...Podeswa really crafted a fine film here, the Greek/Middle-Eastern soundtrack also comple...( read more)mented this fine piece of work. It's really a slice of life movie....very authentic portrayal of how psychological trauma can play through one's entire life stemming from events like the Holocaust. And the protagonist (both by the child actor and Stehpen Dillane) stayed true to what was being conveyed in the story. Fugitive Pieces is also thoroughly poetic in how we see Jakob finally able to embrace his ghosts and move forward. This theme really resonated with me (living in my own past, still dealing with my ghosts), and I hope this film will receive the recognition it deserves.

    And also, another sign that this was a great production: great historic and locational recreation, both of WW II era Europe, rural Greece, 70's-era Canada.
  • August 9, 2009
    Another of Nina Dobrev's films that sounds really good. I hope to see this sometime soon as any film about love and loss is always a good film.
  • June 11, 2009
    good flick, a good visual representation of the book. the book was awesome, very atmospheric and dreamlike
  • June 9, 2009
    How many films about the Jews can be made by Hollywood?
    I guess the number is endless.
    The only thing moving about this film was its effect on my bowls!
    Jakob?s unrealistic meeting and eventual marriage with Alex is particularly nauseating in its stupidity and lack of originality...( read more).
    The rest of the film attempts to give a very forced sense of meaning through poor old Jakob's horrible plight, as he desperately struggles to come to terms with his beautiful wife and successful career.
    This is a stupid, pointless film telling a meaningless story about the only people who have ever suffered throughout the entire history of humanity. The Jews!

Critic Reviews


June 27, 2008
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

Fugitive Pieces is an often lovely work, haunting its viewer long afterward with its quiet observations on what remains with us. full review

June 13, 2008
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

If Fugitive Pieces has a message, it is that life can heal us, if we allow it. full review

May 15, 2008
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

The cast is uniformly attractive and earnest. But the romanticized image of the tortured artist is the stuff of stereotype unless it's leavened with humor, or limned in art. In Fugitive Pieces, neithe... full review

May 2, 2008
Pete Hammond, Boxoffice Magazine

A demanding, but remarkably accomplished and moving film. full review

May 2, 2008
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

The strengths of Fugitive Pieces are its fluidity and subtlety. Emotional repression may be one of the most difficult conditions to portray honestly, and Dillane's performance of Jakob is a study in t... full review

View more Fugitive Pieces reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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