| Max and Helen | |
|---|---|
| Based on | Max and Helen bySimon Wiesenthal |
| Screenplay by | Corey Blechman |
| Directed by | Philip Saville |
| Starring | Treat Williams Alice Krige Martin Landau Jonny Phillips Adam Kotz Jodhi May |
| Composer | Christopher Young |
| Country of origin | United States United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Steven R. McGlothen |
| Cinematography | Elemér Ragályi |
| Editor | Skip Schoolnik |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Production companies | Turner Pictures Citadel Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | TNT |
| Release | January 8, 1990 (1990-01-08) |
Max and Helen is a 1990 Americandrama film directed byPhilip Saville and written by Corey Blechman. It is based on the 1982 bookMax and Helen bySimon Wiesenthal. The film starsTreat Williams,Alice Krige,Martin Landau,Jonny Phillips, Adam Kotz andJodhi May. The film premiered onTNT on January 8, 1990.[1][2][3]
Based on the fact-based novel byNazi-hunterSimon Wiesenthal based on his 1962 prosecution of the head of a German factory whom he learns was a murderous labor camp commandant. To be able to take him to justice, he must find witnesses who can help him. This leads him to Max Rosenberg, a still tormented individual who lost his wife, Helen, in the camps. Initially Max refuses to cooperate, but gradually his story unfolds beginning before the Holocaust.Venice, 1944, Max, a Jewish student, is captured by the Nazis. Hélène, his French fiancée, pretends she is Jewish as well, so they both get deported to Poland. They get married on the train from where they escape, only to be captured again and separated. Max survives a firing squad and flees to Poland where he joins the resistance. Hélène will stay behind in the concentration camp to become the victim of the sadistic German officer, Koeller. In 1960, after surviving the War and the Soviet Gulag, Max finds out that Koeller killed Hélene and starts chasing him to get his revenge. During his manhunt, he meets Simon Wiesenthal, the famous Nazi hunter, who is also trying to catch Koeller.