In 1933 in Berlin. Anna is only nine years old when her life changes from the ground up. To escape the Nazis, her father Arthur Kemper, a well-known Jewish journalist, has to flee to Zurich. His family, Anna, her twelve-year-old brother Max and her mother Dorothea follow him shortly thereafter. Anna has to leave everything behind, including her beloved pink rabbit, and face a new life full of challenges and privations abroad.
Films based on the Jewish-Nazi confrontations, or just Nazi Germany in general, are very easy films to build drama and tension in. Like most war films, the life-or-death conflict quickly builds empathy from the audience towards the protagonists that are fighting for their life. Simply put, Nazi Germany has been so effectively demonized that even a hint of a swastika, or mention of Hitler or the Nazis, and history instantly fills in the necessary character development of the antagonists.
I mention this as it is the one thing that is clearly missing from When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. The story attempts to come from the perspective of a child, which would bring a unique perspective to the genre of film, however, the events of the film are so separated from the goings-on of the war, that the film entirely lacks any form of tension or suspense.
At no point does it actually feel like the family that we are following is ever in any danger. We move from Germany to Switzerland, France, and beyond, and yet the external forces that are causing them to constantly uproot themselves and live a refugee life are nowhere to be seen. They are mentioned in passing conversations, but the threat is never properly seen. Ironic, considering the original autobiography was written due to the misconception that real life was like The Sound of Music, while the film adaptation that comes from it is in reality far tamer.
To truly appreciate When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, it is near-necessary to separate the Nazi backstory, to recalibrate expectations. This is the story of a political writer who has gotten on the wrong side of a powerful person, whose persistence in speaking out about said person leads to him being unable to find work and having to relocate his family to foreign countries in an attempt to earn a living. This is not a story about Hitler and the Nazis, this is a story about a refugee family, and the effects of abandoning their home on the children, moving from upper-class Germany to rural Switzerland, and peasanthood in France.
Portraying such a significant upheaval through the eyes of a child (whose hardest decision has been whether to take a stuffed toy rabbit or stuffed toy dog with her) was a unique opportunity to highlight how the same events can be perceived differently by an innocent, naive child. The frantic nature of potentially getting lost in a new town, the frustration and fear of being thrown into an environment where nobody speaks your language, the knowledge that somebody is offering money for capturing her father, the feeling of loss from leaving your nanny and all of your belongings behind. There are many scenarios that could revitalize the war genre, but director Caroline Link instead places a surprising amount of focus on the adults. A perspective that we already know and understand well enough.
As an adventure story, young Anna Kemper and her brother travelling around the world with minimal money, relying on the kindness of others, is a delightful story of the adaptability of young children. Learning to speak two new languages across the span of a couple of years, and experiencing wealth to poverty, it's the positivity and pluck of young Anna Kemper that carries the film. Riva Krymalowski and Marinus Hohmann do a superb job as the young Kemper children, building that empathetic bond with the audience through calmly delivered dialogue and actions.
The film captures that feeling of longing and wants; wanting their friends, their nanny, their toys, their first edition books, their respect, and their integrity. As the film progresses and their priorities begin to change, their wants and longing become much more simple; a consistent home, a taste of meat, to be together. It's a family dynamic that works very well with behaviours, mannerisms, and outbursts that feel authentic.
There is a simple delight to When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, and as long as you go in with the right expectations, there is a humanizing story of what being a refugee can mean. In a day and age where refugees are looked down upon, ignored, or rejected from society, it is films like this that are important to remind us that the overwhelming majority of people who exist today are where they are because of ancestors who were refugees, and that refugees are people that deserve the same dignity and rights that the rest of us have.
This is not another Jojo Rabbit, nor is it anything that would resemble action or thriller territory. But When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit is a pleasant reminder that there are other consequences beyond life and death when considering war.
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit is part of the NZ Jewish International Film Festival from the 22nd of July to the 15th of August