Kapò

Kapò (1959)

  • 85% of users liked it
    (254 ratings)

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… More

Unrated, 1 hr. 56 min.
Directed By
Gillo Pontecorvo
Written By
Gillo Pontecorvo, Franco Solinas
Genres
Drama, Action & Adventure, Art House & International
On DVD
Apr 13, 2010

Critic Reviews

  • Bosley Crowther, New York Times

    Kapo goes completely kaput.

  • Chris Cabin, Slant Magazine

    Released before the decimating force of The Battle of Algiers, Kapò shows a more classical side of Gillo Pontecorvo in terms of form and structure but is in line with the director's controversial choice in subject matter.

  • Sean Axmaker, Seanax.com

    ... the documentary detail of the physical recreation and the matter-of-fact evocation of life under such conditions gives it a power beyond the plot...

  • Alan Dale, Blogcritics.org

    Pontecorvo is not the visionary firebrand of The Battle of Algiers here. He cares about the subject passionately--as a Jew, and as a Communist leader in the Italian Resistance--but he turns it into pap.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Randy T


    One of the first films to depict the horrors of the holocaust. Gillo Pontecorvo's blunt, realistic style is perfectly suited for such grim subject matter. Not nearly as well known as his other films, <i>Kapò</i> is a fantastic little hidden gem that's anything… More

  • Walter M


    "Kapo" starts with 14-year old Edith(Susan Strasberg) finishing her piano lesson and walking home in Paris where she is caught up in the Nazi dragnet that also claims her parents. Separated at a concentration camp, she is told by another child that they will all be killed… More

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