The Survivor

Harry Haft survived Auschwitz because SS officers forced him to box other prisoners for entertainment; the loser was killed. After the war he reaches America and turns professional. His aim is not a title: he wants his name in the papers so that Leah, whom he lost in the war, might find him. That is why he agrees to fight Rocky Marciano. Barry Levinson directed. Ben Foster plays Haft. The film runs on two timelines separated visually, with the camp sections in black and white and the postwar material in colour. Foster's preparation is what is most discussed. He is emaciated in the camp scenes, has put on around fifty pounds of muscle for the postwar fights, and is heavy as an older man. He played the fights himself and the punches were shot at full impact. It went out on HBO on 27 April 2022. Opinion divided. Stephen Smith of the USC Shoah Foundation called it one of the best contributions to Holocaust film since Schindler's List; the other side wrote that it grasps the moral complexity of Haft's position and still does not stay with you. Who it is for: viewers who like boxing and survival stories drawn from real lives. Who it is not for: anyone who cannot take the camp scenes. The film shows both the fights and the camp directly.