Spring 1941

Spring 1941 (also titled Aviv 41) is a 2008 Polish-Israeli war drama film directed by Uri Barbash and starring Joseph Fiennes, Neve McIntosh and Kelly Harrison. It is based on the short stories "A Conversation" and "A Spring Morning" by Ida Fink. Plot Summary In the 70's, Clara Planck, a well-known Canadian-Jewish cellist, arrives in her home town in Poland with her daughter to perform in a newly remodeled concert hall. While visiting the city, there are sporadic flashbacks to the events of the spring of 1941. During the German invasion and eventual occupation, her family (Husband Arthur, a young Jewish doctor and two daughters, Lisa (6) and Eva (3). The Family attempts to escape and hide in the rural farm belonging to a sympathizer, Emilia, who had sold vegetables at local farmers' markets to them over the years. During their escape the Nazis catch them in the street and daughter Eva is shot in the back climbing a fence. The remaining family members make their way to Emilia, who has been a recent widower. Emilia, a christian and very Aryan in appearance, hides the survivors in her attic. Clara and Lisa, who look "too" Jewish, cannot leave the attic until evening for fear of being discovered. Arthur doesn't possess the perceived features of a Jew and is able to poses as Emilia’s cousin to help work the farm in exchange during the day. Various scenes of atrocities by the Nazis compound the fears that the family is trapped in the farmhouse and cannot leave. A relationship eventually develops between him and Emilia, who is lonely and needing companionship. He is torn, but Emilia essentially admits that she will not harbor the family without Arthur fulfilling her love and providing her with her own child. Concurrently, Emilia's Brother-in-Law has aims to take her as his bride now that the brother has passed away. He constantly pesters Emilia who brushes off his advances and threatens to accuse him of raping her.