Kids growing up in the ’70s understood to never trust a fascist, especially a Nazi. Whether it be from the World At War documentary series or even Hogan’s Heroes, Nazis weren’t known for sticking to their word. Appease them a little and they’ll annex Sudetenland and keep going. Lately certain pundits want to make the Germany of the late ’30s and early ’40s look like the real victim of World War II. They want us to believe that today’s fascist leaders around the Globe deserve to be trusted and they don’t want too much. In order to not go to war, Denmark originally signed a pact with Hitler to allow the Germans to use their naval, air and military bases so they could stage an invasion of Norway. A year later, Hitler decided to invade Denmark anyway. The country surrendered with one of the conditions that Hitler wouldn’t do anything to the Danish people that were Jewish. At the time the population of Denmark was 4 million with 8,000 being Jewish citizens. For three years, there wasn’t a problem. But then in 1943, Hitler ordered his troops to round up the Jewish population to ship out to his Concentration camps around Europe. The Only Way is a movie about what the people of Denmark did that day when the German troops arrived.
Lillian Stein (Live and Let Die‘s Jane Seymour) lives in Copenhagen with her family. While over the years they’ve talked about fleeing Denmark to a country not occupied by Hitler’s military such as nearby Sweden. But her father doesn’t want to go. His reluctance to move proves to be a bad thing when one night in October 1943, a large amount of Nazi’s roll into Copenhagen with a mission. The S.S. and Gestapo are part of the soliders so something ominous is being planned. The following morning the troops bust in the doors of every Jewish family in the city. But the word had gotten out and only a few unfortunate people were found at home. Neighbors had taken in their friends and hidden them including the Steins. But the Danish leaders understand that there’s no way they can keep them hidden for long. They make plans to smuggle them over the water to Sweden. Can they truly rescue their neighbors from being shipped to the Death Camps at the other end of the railroad lines?
The Only Way is G Rated. This isn’t a wholesome Disney movie. There is plenty of tension instead of extreme violence. There are scenes of symbolic torture such as when the German officer destroys violins in a factory instead of taking it out on the Dane being interrogated. The filmmakers want to remind kids that people did their best for their neighbors when evil descended. We rarely get these messages on TV anymore. Now we have pundits on TV new channels doing their best to rationalize away such atrocities and promote fascism. Just do a quick web search and you’ll be frightened by what multimillionaires are allowed to spew on news channels about the Holocaust. A few pundits push the idea that Concentration Camps were community colleges that trained people to be useful. They attempt to get news channels’ core viewers to forget real history with facts and just buy into what feels truthful spoken by the pundit. The viewers might accept that the Holocaust wasn’t that bad or didn’t really happen. The viewers begin to think, why not accept a totalitarian fascist as a leader with great ideas and big promises? We need films such as The Only Way to remind us that you should never trust the promises of fascists and you should hope your neighbors care about humanity.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfer brings out a rustic feel to the Copenhagen locations. The Audio is 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround. Things are clear during the silent moments of the escapes. The movie is subtitled in English.
Reunion (19:46) is a documentary by Henri Cartier-Bresson adapted by the US Defense Department for the American Audience. There’s footage of a liberation of prisoner of war and concentration camps. While things start out with joyful celebrations, we see what the Nazis did to people behind the gates. There is talk of the camp survivors making the long journey home. But what would be the reaction when they arrived in their old neighborhood.
VCI Entertainment presents The Only Way. Directed by Bent Christensen. Screenplay by John Gould. Starring Martin Potter, Jane Seymour, Ebbe Rode, Helle Virkner, Ove Sprogøe, Bjørn Watt-Boolsen & Benny Hansen. Running Time: 87 minutes. Rating: Rated G. Release Date: August 15, 2023.
