Steal a Pencil for Me (2007)

95% of critics liked it
(22 reviews)
79% of users liked it
(578 ratings)

A man, his wife, and the woman he has fallen deeply in love with experience jealousy and heartbreak while housed together in the same barrack of a World War II-era concentration camp in Oscar-nominated director Michèle Ohayon's (Cowboy del Amor) unflinching look at love in a land ravaged by war. His… More A man, his wife, and the woman he has fallen deeply in love with experience jealousy and heartbreak while housed together in the same barrack of a World War II-era concentration camp in Oscar-nominated director Michèle Ohayon's (Cowboy del Amor) unflinching look at love in a land ravaged by war. His marriage already failing when he and his wife were assigned to live in a concentration camp, Jack soon found comfort in the arms of new love interest Ina. Though his wife voiced vehement objection to the relationship, Jack continued to communicate with his newfound love in a series of furtively penned love letters. It was through these clandestine correspondences that Jack and Ina were eventually able to gain the strength needed to get through such a dark time, but as the war draws to a close all three survivors are forced to make some difficult, and potentially life-altering, decisions. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 37 min.
Directed By: Ellen Ten Damme, Ina Soep
Genres: Documentary, Romance, Special Interest

In Theaters: Nov 9, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Mar 28, 2008
Studio: 7th Art Releasing

Critic Reviews

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
Not even Hollywood could invent a romance more extraordinary than this one.
Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times
Irrepressibly moving without being sentimental, Steal a Pencil for Me is a testimony to true love.
Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times
What makes Ms. Ohayon's movie special is its recognition that epic horrors don't erase private dramas.
John Anderson, Newsday
Some may think the Holocaust has nothing new to offer up, but Michele Ohayon says otherwise.
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
Michèle Ohayon's Steal a Pencil for Me offers a simple human story of dignity, levity and romance -- both unlikely qualities in the chaos and terror of Nazi-era Europe -- and exerts its own special charm.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Filmmaker Michèle Ohayon shapes her portrait of two vibrant old people with a fine hand (especially when it comes to interspersing historical footage), creating a valuable addition to the Cinema of Never Forget.
Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Because the sheer scale of [the Holocaust] is incomprehensible, humanizing it, in a documentary like Steal a Pencil for Me, keeps it vivid.
Kent Turner, Film-Forward.com
endlessly fascinating
Karina Longworth, SpoutBlog
An idiosyncratic, largely anecdotal story with larger reverberations.
Ron Wilkinson, Monsters and Critics
Love conquers all, including the Nazi war machine and an angry wife, in Ohayon's new Holocaust documentary.
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
No first-person account of life in a Nazi concentration camp could ever be called 'romantic,' but the story of Jack Polak and Ina Soep -- comes close.
Eric Kohn, New York Press
Ohayan creates a fluid pace, matching the account of the survival with present day footage of the couple lecturing younger generations to raise Holocaust awareness.
Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Daily News
It's a Holocaust story unlike any other, and filmmaker Michele Ohayon treats it with an engaging sensitivity.
Eric Monder, Film Journal International
The filmmaker elegantly documents both the past and the present with a measured yet heartfelt sincerity.
Rob Humanick, Slant Magazine
A misguided documentary that mistakes cutesy, polished aesthetics for meaningful sentiment.
Michelle Orange, Reeler
The most moving story about love, longevity, infidelity and the Holocaust you may ever hear.
, AV Club
There's incredible feeling behind Steal A Pencil For Me -- enough to sustain two lives throughout unimaginable hardship -- but the film doesn't bring much of it to the surface.
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Each moment in 'Steal a Pencil for Me' is a witness to the power of people, the will to live and to love.

Read all 18 critic reviews

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Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]Boy, have Jaap Polak and Ina Soep got a story to tell their grandchildren(and great grandchildren) 60 years after they got married of how they fell in love in concentration camps during World War II. By showing how precious life is, "Steal a Pencil for… More
[font=Century Gothic]Boy, have Jaap Polak and Ina Soep got a story to tell their grandchildren(and great grandchildren) 60 years after they got married of how they fell in love in concentration camps during World War II. By showing how precious life is, "Steal a Pencil for Me," is a very touching and moving documentary about their experiences. [/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]The two had met in Amsterdam before the Nazis invaded, coming from different ends of the social spectrum in the Jewish community. Jaap was an accountant, unhappily married and ten years older than Ina who came from a wealthy family. All of which is important to remember when Jaap notes the poor were forcibly relocated to the camps before the rich were. Despite their differences, they both ended up in the same camps, Westerbork(which was originally built for German refugees) and Bergen-Belsen. Jaap makes a distinction between concentration and extermination camps which is the difference between Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz. Even though being in Bergen-Belsen gave them a chance for survival, it was still no picnic as food was scarce, while typhus was rampant.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]By having two people detailing what they had to endure to survive the Holocaust against huge odds, "Steal a Pencil for Me" excels in its recollection of the genocide(The scenes at Westerbork were shot by the camp commander to show off). And today, Jaap and Ina talk to people from Los Angeles to Holland about the Holocaust, so that it is never forgotten.[/font]