Annabel Jankel’s new drama tells the true story of Freddie Knoller well, but struggles to truly encapsulate his survival throughout the Holocaust
There are inherent difficulties in trying to adapt stories of Holocaust survival to the screen. Firstly, it is simply impossible for a film or television show to depict the sheer scale of the horror. Secondly, there’s always a challenging balance to strike between portraying the reality of what unfolded, versus telling an engaging story. And thirdly, the real stories themselves are often full of such astonishing details, such unlikely moments of luck, fate, destiny, divine providence – whatever you want to call it – that the on-screen versions often pale by comparison.
Desperate Journey faces all three of these intimidating challenges. It is a cinematic adaptation of the book of the same name by Holocaust survivor Freddie Knoller, recounting his experiences during World War II. Freddie (played by Danish actor Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen) and his family are Austrian Jews from Vienna. They face a rising tide of increasingly violent antisemitism as the Nazis incorporate Austria into the Third Reich through the 1938 Anschluss. His parents are only able to secure a single visa for one of their two children to escape to America. Believing Freddie to be more of a survivor, they give it to his younger brother. Freddie is smuggled across the border into France instead, leaving his family behind.
He makes his way to Paris, where he is hired by a hustler named Christos (Fernando Guallar) who works at a nightclub brothel. Freddie’s native German is useful for roping Nazi soldiers into the establishment – including the sinister Officer Kurt (Til Schweiger). There, Freddie falls in love with glamourous showgirl Jaqueline (Clara Rugaard). As Paris becomes increasingly dangerous, Freddie agrees to help the French Resistance in return for fake papers that will help him get to England.
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