Out of the Ashes (I) (2003 TV Movie) User Reviews (19)

Showtime actually made a good movie

[MLDinTN · 7/10 · 22 April 2003]

The first 20 minutes was slow and I thought this was going no where. But, then when we start to see flashbacks of the concentration camps and what Perl saw and endured there; it gets really good. Christine Lahti is really good and will surely be nominated for an Emmy. I mean, it was awful how the interview panel tries to make Dr. Perl look bad because of the things she had to do in order to survive her imprisonment. And the film does have those shocking Nazi moments, like shootings in the head, killing pregnant women, and experiments on babies.

FINAL VERDICT: This was a good movie about a Jewish Dr. who struggles with the moral choices she must make to survive Nazi imprisonment. Definitely catch this if you have Showtime.

True Story Deserved Better Treatment

[SpitfireIXB · 6/10 · 6 May 2010]

The true story of the Late Doctor Gisella Perl is unforgettable and the stuff of which legends and heroines are made. She was truly a most remarkable human being.

However, in my opinion this made-for-television movie did not do justice to Dr. Perl's true life story. The scenes and sets were cheap and recognizable from other contemporary movies made by the same production company. The script (by Anne Meredith) was over-dramatized, stilted and incomplete, e.g. the horror of Dr Perl having to smother to death many live birth children in order to save the lives of their mothers is not mentioned and was one horror, along with the hundreds of abortions she performed to save lives, that haunted Dr. Perl until her death.

The acting and script were so stilted and so melodramatic that it deterred from the true story and made me question if the story could be true or should be taken seriously. Only because I read Dr. Perl's book and many articles about her life that I knew the story to be true. Some of the actors are guilty of terrible overacting, especially in many scenes revealing details of Dr. Perls's life that really call for, nay demand, understatement that would have been far more effective for the realization of the real Dr. Perl and her family. Beau Bridges was good as the lead immigration officer (his part scripted to make him appear as an interrogator for the Inquisition) and Christine Lahti gave a fair, albeit an over the top, melodramatic performance and was often guilty of just plain overacting. Richard Crenna and Bruce Davison are as wooden as manikins in a window display and their roles in this movie still escape me. All in all the script, sets and acting were inferior and deficient.

This story deserves a better treatment than it received in this television movie because Dr. Gisella Perl was a real heroine, not just a death camp survivor.

I give this movie 3/5 stars, mainly for Dr. Perl's true story, not the acting, script or cinematography.

The best TV movie Showtime has ever done!

[tedehaha · 8/10 · 18 April 2003]

Joe Sargent was ruthless with the editing,the fast cuts pulled you right into the story, he made it move at a great pace.

Don Morgan did a brilliant job on lighting - I love it when a DOP is not afraid to have faces drop into shadows. Beautiful texure throughout.

Jeff Ginn did an absolute stellar job on production Design.

The show felt like a feature film.

Christine Lahti should be nominated for her role in this film

BEST PORTRAYAL OF HOLOCAUST LIFE I HAVE SEEN TO DATE.

[ILUVCJ910 · 7 December 2003]

Out of the Ashes is one of the best portrayals of the life of a Holocaust survivor I have seen yet. As an avid researcher of the Holocaust I have read Dr. Perl's 1948 novel of her life as a concentration camp survivor and the accounts of her work as a camp doctor. Showtime could not have done a more superior job bringing this woman's story to the screen. This is certainly a movie that will grip at your heart strings , Jewish or not. Auschwitz was re-created with fierce accuracy. Even the most hardened heart could not feel anything but pure admiration as the story unfolds of Dr. Perl's struggle to help the women of Auschwitz and her own struggle for survival. Dr. Perl single handedly assisted in the preservation of the Jewish people by helping the innocent women victims to stay alive and fight with the hope that they would one day present the world with a new generation of Jews that would be free. She then came to America and assisted in delivering this new generation before she retired in Israel and ended her life there doing volunteer work. This is an extraordinary story of one of the bravest woman I have ever learned of. I could not give this movie a higher rating.

It shows that surviving Auschwitz could make people question why exactly you survived

[Erik_Surewaard · 6/10 · 7 August 2023]

The true story about a woman named Gisella Perl, a jewish doctor whom lived in Sighet (Hungary) during WW2. After the 1944 german occupation of Hungary, the family of the doctor was first interned in the Sighet ghetto after which they were deported in May 1944 to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The story is told through flashbacks that the doctor experiences from the moment she arrives in New York, just after WW2 ended. In these flashbacks, we will see some of her experiences in the concentration camp and what she did to survive. And this is not only about surviving herself, but also to help pregnant prisoners survive.

For a TV movie, the quality is pretty decent. It is unfortunately not comparible to an average feature film production. This can for instance be seen back in the limited set of the concentration camp. But overall, I think this TV movie is for sure one of the better TV productions.

Concluding, I think this movie deserves a score of 6.4/10, resulting in an IMDb rating of 6 stars.

It is worthwile noting that the famous jewish survivor Elie Wiesel - whom in 1956 published his first book on his experiences in Auschwitz - also came from the hungarian town Sighet. Elie Wiesel received the 1986 Nobel Peace Price.

Gripping drama, stretching the limits of TV

[OldRose · 9/10 · 13 July 2004]

"Out of the Ashes" is very nearly the best story brought to the screen, among the many I've seen. At issue here (which many may not realise) is the life-story of one Doctor Gisella Perl--a Hungarian Jew who, along with her entire family, was captured from the family's home-town of Sighet and sent by boxcar to Auschwitz--while the holocaust itself provides the backdrop for the story. Like "Sophie's Choice", this film involved the difficult 'choiceless choices' that were made by some of the survivors of the Second World War's most infamous extermination camp.

In order to truly appreciate the story and the portrayal, one must know something of Hungarians and of Hungary, as well as their role in World War II. Actress Christine Lahti turned in such a marvelous and unforgettable performance, I actually thought I was seeing a Hungarian actress playing the role (to begin with), and then a really fine performance it was, to boot! I found myself on the edge of my seat with a film that, being a product of cable television, didn't garner such advance expectations. And but for one very glaring and avoidable error, which happens early in the film (only one scene), the final product was really quite well done. Bravo to Showtime!

Lahti's performance was award-winning, to say the very least, whether or not she was ever properly recognised. Add: a wonderful supporting cast, recruited in the US, Canada, and Eastern Europe. The scenery is lovely (filmed mainly in Lithuania; the film-makers were able to find a beautiful town not destroyed during the war). For those who have not seen this film, please do! It's a remarkable autobiography (i.e. the book on which its based) and life story. I think the actual Dr. Perl would have been proud of, and pleased with Lahti's performance and portrayal of her. Rent the DVD rather than wait for Showtime to rerun it (even though I'm sure it will be run again and again). Rating: 4,5 stars on 5.

Greatest Holocaust Movie I've Ever Seen!!!

[sprite4353 · 10/10 · 13 January 2005]

This portrayal of Dr. Gisella Perl is the greatest movie about life inside the fences of Auschwitz. As a history major, specified on the Holocaust, I believe the cast and crew of this movie really knew what they were doing. Every time I watch it, tears form in my eyes as Lahti portrays Perl in the scene where she pulls her sleeve up to the U.S. men explaining how she was not a collaborator, how she was a prisoner, and that she had the identification number to prove it. I hope that this movie did Dr. Perl justice and her family see's what a tremendous woman she was. Now every time I do any research project or paper for a history class concerning the Holocaust, Nazi era, or Hitler, I bring up Dr. Perl, and explain how it takes more than courage to save all the lives she saved... it takes love, compassion, and devotion to her fellow inmates and all the persecuted victims. This movie deserves more than one award.. it deserves to be in some kind of Hall of Fame.

Melodrama ad nauseam

[=G= · 5/10 · 28 April 2003]

In "Out of the Ashes", Lahti is out front delivering a typically sterling performance as a gynecologist and Auschwitz survivor who applies for citizenship to the US while reliving the horrors of her WWII experience via flashback before a panel of review not unlike the Spanish Inquisition. This lame flick is melodramatic to the point of the ridiculous with the bad guys being the personification of evil and the good guys being worthy of canonization as saints. If we needed another WWII death camp story, which we don't, this one certainly is not it. A pathetically melodramatic treatment of a serious subject in the guise of a biopic not worthy of further commentary. (C)

Gave me The Shivers it was that good....

[amanda-culley2 · 10/10 · 18 February 2006]

This is an outstanding piece of film making Joseph S does an excellent job directing this movie. His leading lady Christing Lahti steals the show completely she is 100% believable as Gisella Perl. This movie is based on the book "I was a Doctor In Auswitz", written by Dr Gisella Perl. The thing that really impressed me about Ms Lahti's work on this was the accent. She not only hits brilliantly but also delivers a performance to be both reckoned with and remembered. This film depicts the holocaust in to my way of thinking a very real way. There is one scene with a small baby that had me choking up it was tastefully done and acted to perfection. This is one of my all time favorite movies. I hope readers here get to watch it and that you all enjoy it as much as i did. I lack words to praise this picture or Ms Lahti's work on it enough......

Yes VERY melodramatic

[NonEgo1 · 2/10 · 24 February 2008]

I agree wholeheartedly with George Parker. No one would deny that dreadful things happened in Auschwtiz but AS A MOVIE this SUCKS. Gisella Perl left very vivid descriptions of the horrors endured which should have been the central theme.Instead we had cheap sets, lousy cinematography, inaccurate depictions (re uniforms, characters etc) and melodramatic overacting which all added up up to one disappointing MOVIE. PLAYING FOR TIME, THE GREY ZONE, ESCAPE FROM SOBIBOR & TRIUMPH OF THE SPIRIT all do better justice to the topic. Shame on the the Director, Jospeh Sargeant who also did PLAYING FOR TIME but seemed unable to reach the same heights this time round. Bringing in some "big" names, Richard Crenna, Beau Bridges etc hoping to, what, lend some class to the movie or to the lame overacting ???!! As Homer Simpson would put it ...... BORING !!!!!!

one of the best performance ever seen

[lena-valdeira · 10/10 · 9 April 2007]

the actress playing the role of Dr Gisela Pearl should be nominated for her performance. the film showed the courage of the human spirit in the face of hate and tragedy. after looking at the film, I was humbled by the courage of this woman who lost all her family but decide in spite of what happened to her to survive and help other fellow humans. she also had to go through the pain of defending herself after being accused of collaborating with the Nazi. Anyone in the same position had little choices but to try to remain alive. She did more than that and for that reason she should be honoured for her heroism. I am full of admiration for the Jewish people time and time again when I see films such as this one.

Few films capture emotion like this one.

[The_Juggalo5588 · 9/10 · 7 November 2006]

when i saw some loser idea from a previous commentator about this film being a melodramatic waste of time i was baffled. this film is the most emotional film i have ever seen. the idea that those Nazis who could do such things were themselves immune to it all but afraid of pain. its rare that you get a look at so many things of the camps, and this film shows you nearly anything you would imagine happening in a place such as Auschwitz. forget that comment that guy made about this film being so under par and just one of another. watch this for yourself and i guarantee if you have any sense of a good movie or good acting you'll know this movie is complete with both. no complaints on my part of this film other than the fact that since it was made on facts that in the end Doctor Joseph Mengele was not given a piece of his own medicine. any other way this was a great film.

Hollywood, well OK American television comes to Auschwitz

[oliverdearlove · 25 August 2016]

I an unable to comment on the American post war boom-town scenes, and hadn't realised how opulent post war New York was compared to bombed out and ruined Europe

Only one reviewer above has seen thro all the glitzy schmaltz of the reviews to say that Auschwitz was an extermination camp. I have similar difficulties with my father as a British POW and people say "Oh he was in a Death Camp, how did he survive ?" the short answer is that he wasn't. But from the preconceptions it makes having a meaningful conversation difficult.

I have to say I found most of the scenes unbelievable. I think more should have been made that this was a collection of peoples memories, each with a different message. I was in similar difficulties with The Pianist, where I thought some scenes were obviously true and some obviously untrue

From the allegations made by the survivors, I thought there was a case for Dr Perl to answer. This film is probably not a vehicle for an adequate answer.

Had promise .Then became ridiculous

[ger55champ · 5/10 · 27 January 2022]

This film is ok in parts but some of the acting is very poor .As is the storyline which becomes so rushed .No fear. No development of main characters .Some of the 9/10 reviews can't be genuine .It is nothing more than average .Even if the story is a serious one .

A moving account of a female Doctor being held ina WW II concentration camp.

[allmybiz123 · 10/10 · 17 September 2006]

Jessica Beitchman as Marta Weiss was the most captivating character of this piece. Considering the company she's keeping in the movie (Christine Lahti, Beau Bridges, Richard Crenna) that is an incredible accomplishment. The movie was a touching yet horrifying account of a female Doctor in a WW II concentration camp. In it, Doctor Gisella Perl (Christine Lahti) helps Marta Weiss (Jessica Beitchman) while imprisoned together in Auschwitz and the two are reunited once again in America. When the American authorities suspect the good Doctor of voluntarily participating in experiments conducted by the "Angel of Death" Dr Josef Minghela, Perl must now rely on the testimony provided by young Marta Weiss to help free her in the land she came to be free in, America. It is the extraordinary tale of the holocaust survivors that came to the USA after enduring the unimaginable while trapped in Nazi occupied Europe in the 1940's.

Out of the Ashes Came Survival ****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 19 December 2012]

Another excellent holocaust film is 2003's "Out of the Ashes." A Jewish doctor who survived Auschwitz comes to New York after the war and passes her bar exams only to be examined by an inquiry determining her participation with Dr. Mengele at Auschwitz.

Christine Lahti was absolutely terrific here. Her emotions as the outraged doctor were most convincing.

The film relies on flashback to show that she came from an orthodox family who resisted fleeing to Israel as the elders felt they were too old to start life anew there.

The movie showed how she was duped by Mengele which led to women going to their deaths. During this time at Auschwitz, she worked feverishly to save women; although, some of her methods came under intense scrutiny.

A gem of a film.

OUT OF THE ASHES: which comments need burning--

[charlytully · 8/10 · 9 December 2008]

For anyone without the patience to navigate this site, who assumes Christine Lahti won the 2003 Miniseries Lead Actress Emmy by acclamation (based on predictions made back then): Not only was Lahti overlooked for her OUT OF THE ASHES role as Holocaust abortionist Dr. Gisella Perl, but she could not take even the Showtime network bragging rights (Maggie Smith won over all for MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA, and Showtime's Jessica Lange at least made the final five for her title role in THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE).

Secondly, unlike such concentration camps as Bergen Belsen in countries such as Germany (19 total), Auschwitz was one of five EXTERMINATION camps (all in Poland). Therefore, 99% of internees there died (pretty much everyone except the last group brought in, and Gisella Perl--a collective fate she well knew). Dr. Perl's moral ambivalence involved deciding for 1000 women it would be better for Dr. Perl to deliver and smother their newborns, with the moms being painfully gassed to death within a week, rather than to let actual Nazi SS officers shoot the moms and babies in the head. Whether being forced to do more of their own dirty work--instead of being assisted by Dr. Perl and the more famously documented male prisoner oven details (one of which bucked "groupthink," fought back, and killed many SS guards)--whether, again, such a stubbornly non-collaborative response to pure evil would have driven the SS too berserk to kill as many as they did (or had Hitler turned them into nonhuman orcs, capable of endless killing?), God only knows. Far from stereotyping the "bad guys," director Joseph Sargent takes Nazis=bad for a given, and presents the three immigration officers in New York City as Dr. Perl's real opponents (and not mere "straw men," as evidenced when one of the trio brings Dr. Perl up short by telling her of the son HE lost on D-Day). Certainly some of the niceties presented (Gisella's only infanticide shown here is performed outside of the new mom's view, and her post-Auschwitz baby delivery tally is given as exactly twice her death camp "full-birth" abortion toll) seem too pat.

Thirdly, the DVD extras include amazingly comprehensive filmographies for Christine Lahti, Beau Bridges, Richard Crenna, and Bruce Davison, as well as a helpful map locating all 24 SS concentration and death camps. Also insightful are the cast interviews, "The Choices of Dr. Gisella Perl" among them.

Holocaust is no joke, nor a Melodrama.

[movieed1 · 9/10 · 14 April 2022]

Friends, the subject matter was handled very well. Dr. Perl worked on her own redemption, something we all need do in this day and age.

The acting, cinematography, set design, costumes well done. In my lifetime I have lived with people who were at the "camps", heard the stories every one is compelling in its own way.

Some found redemption, some questioned why they survived well into their old age.

These stories must be shared and NOT FORGOTTEN. Yet, sadly by the overall rating this gem of a film presented, by its score, many can barely relate to the trials of complete subjugation and the lengths people go to stay alive.

This was a well done and ultimately positive movie.

shaky

[hamid-r-goodarzi · 10 January 2023]

It is a TV movie based on the memoirs of a gynecologist from Auschwitz. This film is a linear and has two parts. The flashbacks to Auschwitz are nice and powerful, but the film's present-day sequences and the scenes where "Perl" questions his citizenship are contrived and tacky. The film wants to expose the viewer to judgment and position him, but it is not successful in this task and remains on the surface and is limited to sloganing dialogues. In general, the movie has nothing new to say, and reading the book it is adapted from is much more interesting And it is acceptable for broadcast on TV.