Alfred Kerr was one of the most influential theater critics in the Weimar Republic, famous for his sharpness and an open Nazi opponent. Shortly before the Reichtags election in March 1933, he received an anonymous warning: his name is in second place on the Nazi enemy list, something terrible could happen to him if they won the election. Kerr leaves the country, his family followed, and he lived through Hitler‘s takeover in Switzerland. The following year-long odyssee from Switzerland to Paris and then London was something the then nine year old daughter Judith (in the book, Anna in the film) described in a series of world-famous young adult books. The first novel has now been adapted by Caroline Link and has struck the unsentimental tone of the source. Almost completely told from the perspective of sensitive and headstrong Anna, the film balances the sadness over the loss of home and the interesting sides of a childhood in which you always needed to adapt to new cultures. Riva Krymalowski is wonderful as Anna. She‘s curious, often doesn‘t understand things at first, has trouble in the Swiss backwoods school as a Berlin child of intellectuals, and keeps looking for what‘s beautiful in the new world. Oliver Masucci plays Alfred Kerr quietly, in an almost withdrawn way, and gives the film its second center. He sets an example to his children and creates an atmosphere in which you never feel as though the family is doing really badly. You believe him when he answers Anna‘s question: “Don‘t you mind being a refugee?“ with “I do. But I also find it very interesting.“ Even though the circumstances speak against it: Caroline Link tells a not-so-common story of a successful childhood during the war and post-war years.

Susanne Stern

Translation: Elinor Lewy