The most mawkish and shallow take on the holocaust committed to screen in many a long year.
The Aryan Couple (2004)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted:26
Fresh:3
Rotten:23
Average Rating:3.6/10
Starring: Gretchen Becker, Martin Landau, Judy Parfitt, Kenny Doughty
Starring: Gretchen Becker, Martin Landau, Judy Parfitt, Kenny Doughty
Director: John Daly
Director: John Daly
Reviews for The Aryan Couple
It's a sucrose period piece that somehow averts its gaze from the brutal reality of Nazi genocide, and manages to conjure a fatuous feelgood happy ending.
Its intentions are doubtless good, but it ends up exploiting the Holocaust for cheap suspense.
Is over-arching sincerity only results in a stiffness that gives way to B-movie melodramatics in time for the cliché-ridden finale.
Mainly notable for its inappropriate, blithe sentimentality. In another film this would be the usual Hollywood hokum. In a film about the most serious subject imaginable, it amounts to moral idiocy.
Put-upon Jews weep on cue or stare defiantly into the camera, spouting impromptu speeches about getting some of their own back one day; all the while, violins wail in the background.
The Aryan Couple gets great mileage out of its tension and suspense, and its commitment to developing its characters as real people in an unthinkable dilemma.
he story loses its grip and momentum during the laboriously realized denouement, which follows the hired help's struggle to escape to Switzerland amid overwrought action sequences propelled by a shrieking violin-driven soundtrack.
The whole thing is coarse and vulgar, as it hides its low fascinations behind a scrim of Holocaust piety until it becomes pure kitsch.
A handsome Holocaust melodrama hobbled by a transparent and cartoonish script.
Pure sentimental melodrama, with not a moment's reflection on any issue larger than the fate of our heroes.
These two are so pretty and vacant they seem better suited to modeling for a perfume ad than taking on the Third Reich.
Potentially powerful subject matter is given an unconvincingly melodramatic treatment.
Pic's dubious brand of heroism, half-baked historical sense, simplistic dialogue, flat staging and barely formed characters make for sluggish sledding.
It turns real genocide into another kind of B-movie moustache-twirling.
Engrossing and satisfying, The Aryan Couple shows just how vital a movie made in the solid British style of traditional filmmaking can be.
Directed with the flat artlessness of a lower-rung Masterpiece Theater entry, pulling heartstrings with Igor Khoroshev’s lugubrious score and scripted with banal bromides insulting to its subject matter.
More Movies
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 70% 70% | Where the Wild Things Are | 03/12 |
| 83% 83% | Paranormal Activity | 03/12 |
| 89% 89% | Zombieland | 03/12 |
| 77% 77% | The Informant! | 03/12 |
| | The Strength of Water | 03/12 |
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- The Aryan Couple at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Aryan Couple at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

Tim Burton's costume designer talks to Movieline about her long collaboration with the filmmaker and Johnny Depp.

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

We've got 20 copies of the hit TV series' Pilot Episode to giveaway.

Double passes up for grabs to the new comedy starring Paul Giamatti.

Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.
Competitions

Enough Prequel, Original Trilogy and Family Guy DVDs to fill a space cruiser

Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace could be yours.

We're giving away the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray, plus Braveheart and the Rocky collection



Top Critic

