MovieChat Forums > Triumph of the Spirit (1989) Discussion > IMDB 250!!???

IMDB 250!!???

posted 18 years ago by yoi690
6 replies | jump to latest

I find it rediculous that this movie has not made it onto the top 250! I saw this movie last summer, the day before I started Two-a-days for football(worst day of summer). All I was thinking about how bad two-a-days would be. Until i watched this movie. It showed me that there are much worse things then football practice. This may sound stupid, but it helped me through those terrible two weeks, knowing that i could've been going through something much worse then that. But anyways, back to my original point, THIS MOVIE NEEDS TO BE ON THE TOP 250!!!!Willem Dafoe's performance is one of the best i've ever seen. The scene that won me over, was when he was seperated from his family after getting off of the train. It is one of the most powerful scenes i have ever seen(just my opinion though).

If you agree, then vote it a well deserved 10!!

[–] merfwriter 18 years ago

oh i totaly agree with you.
It is a powerful scene, any holocaust film where the characters are seperated from their families are the worst scenes to watch in holocaust dramas. It just tares your heart out. It was so sad to watch scenes like the one in TOFTS and Schindler's List. Sophie's Choice was really heart breaking, I mean that was the most famus scene in the movie and the whole point to the movie. To this day it still chokes Meryl Streep up just to watch it.

It was sad to watch Salamo's mother, sister, and little niece go to the gas chambers to die. But, Salamo was with his father and his brother, he had them until his brother got shot and died for refusing to work in the creamatorium and then shortly later his father was selected to die because he was too old. I was shocked that his father wasn't selected when they arrived at Auschwitz because many elderly people were selected to die right away. It was sad to see salamo seperated from his girlfriend Allegra. But, I liked the part where they found each other in the camp and passionetly made-out, that was hot, and i was turned on by it.

[–] musashi7007 16 years ago

I wondered why Salamo didn't ask the Colonel he was fighting for to help him save his father. The gypsy couldn't help him. I was screaming at the TV, "Ask the German, Willem! He won't care about one old guy!!" But alas, he didn't hear me.
Willem's versatility is astounding. In his first movie he was a biker. Last week he played a catholic priest in "Pavilion of Women," yesterday he's a creepy gamer in "ExistenZ" and here he floors you as a holocaust survivor. He does karate (among other things) to get those muscles but had to have starved to get the hollow cheekbones. Both he and the movie are underrated.

[–] filmscholar35 15 years ago

Indeed. Unfortunately, this is one of those films that BARELY got released in the first place, when it first came out.

I remember waiting a while to see it. Dafoe was on an absolute roll back then, doing "Platoon", "The Last Temptation of Christ", "Mississippi Burning", "Born on the Fourth of July", and "Triumph of the Spirit", and "Wild at Heart", ALL within about three years.

Unfortunately, when this one came out, it opened on December 29, 1989, just in time to be considered a 1989 release. It opened in just ONE cinema, in NYC. Then, on Jan. 5,1990, it opened in one more NYC location, then in one LA theater. A couple of weeks later, in mid-Jan., it "expanded" to about all of six screens, in a few major cities. It played out its run a couple weeks after that, then it was gone from theaters altogether. And the whole time, it was flying well below everybody's radar. A few reviews is about all you had to know it existed.

When it made its US video bow, in May 1990, it still drew little to no attention, but at least it was easier to see then.

After a brief run on some cable channels after that, it was largely forgotten. Even now, the MGM/UA DVD from 2002 is currently out of print.

This is just one of those movies everybody seemed to miss. And it's a shame. Because it's really very good. In more recent years, due to the internet and DVD, it has found something of a cult following.

It begs to be rediscovered.

[–] mensur_sony 14 years ago

Another underrated Willem Dafoe film/performance. I gave it 10 but film still is very unpopular. So, it's hard to be on the top 250 but I liked that film. Such a depressing and powerful. The strangest thing is it was a critical failure!

[–] benjamin_christine 14 years ago

I gave it a 10 too, but it is going to be hard to get it in the best of the top 250 when only 739 have rated it. It was an excellent movie that is for sure. I definitely told everyone I know about it.

[–] chrissso 8 years ago

Come on ... it was a good film ... but one of the 250 best ever??? Not even close!