A Day in October (1991) starring D.B. Sweeney, Kelly Wolf, Tovah Feldshuh, Daniel Benzali, Ole Lemmeke directed by Kenneth Madsen Movie Review

A Day in October (1991)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Kelly Wolf and D.B. Sweeney in A Day in October (1991)

Dutch Courage

3 years after the Germans occupied Denmark many feel that as long as they do as they told, give the German's what they want they will be fine. One of those is Solomon Kublitz (Daniel Benzali - Boss of Bosses) a Danish Jew who expects his wife Emma (Tovah Feldshuh) and daughter Sara (Kelly Wolf) to not only keep their faith but keep their heads down to avoid trouble. So when Sarah stumbles across the seriously injured Niels (D.B. Sweeney - Memphis Belle), a Dutch resistance fighter who had just tried to blow up a factory he is not happy and fears they will be in trouble for assisting the resistance. But as Solomon's eyes are opened to what awaits the Danish Jews and sees the bravery of the resistance fighters he comes to respect Niels even when his daughter Sara starts to have feelings for him.

"A Day in October" is another movie which dramatizes and highlights the plight of the Jews during WWII, this time the focus being on Danish Jews during 1943. Now there have been a few movies which focus on Jews during WWII and whilst "A Day in October" is both interesting and educational when you compare it to other similar movies it is only average. It's not that it retells things we learnt elsewhere but despite a decent cast feels low budget, lacking the polish to make it come alive and frankly get you in its grip from the word go.

Daniel Benzali in A Day in October (1991)

So let me break this down; part of "A Day in October" is an educational look at the Jewish situation in Denmark during WWII. We see how some including Solomon naively believe they will be safe doing what the Nazi's want and then the news starts to spread that it is only time before the Danish Jews start to suffer the same fate as Jews from other countries. At the same time as seeing the Jewish situation we also see the work of the resistance fighters, the risks they took and how some disagreed with their course of action.

Then alongside this educational side to "A Day in October" we get the entertainment element, yes I did say entertainment because not only do we have a romance between Niels and Sara but we also have Niels wanting to blow up the factory and rescue his captured friends. This is where "A Day in October" is let down for what to me appears budget constraints but could be other reasons as it is incredibly flat. Drama which should get the pulses racing never does and whilst it entertains it just feels like it needed more passion to bring it to life and not just in the romance but in the action as well.

Aside from that well "A Day in October" has a few recognizable faces such as D.B. Sweeney and Daniel Benzali but their characters never really grab you. Sweeney as Niels never comes across as angry and determined enough whilst Benzali as Solomon is convincing as a man strict in his beliefs but that is about it.

What this all boils down to is that "A Day in October" is an interesting movie which looks at the Jewish plight in Denmark during WWII. But it is a movie which ends up feeling remarkably flat despite having a dramatic side to the story.


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