The Search

I am often blown away by the amazing performances of child actors and I suppose that it should come easy for a child to act because children "pretend" to put themselves into any situation every day when they play. That is what a kid does. In this film Ivan Jandl actually becomes his character "Karel" so well that it seems like we are watching a documentary of a real war orphan instead of a movie. This is one of the most heartbreaking and yet uplifting films I have seen in my 60 years. I don't know how I missed this film for so many years and I thank Turner Classic Movies for the chance to finally see it. The expressions and emotions displayed by Ivan are so "real" that, several times, I wanted to pull the kid out of the film and just hold him for a while. Someone commented that Karel did not produce any "tears" when he cried, but in reality we must remember that these children were "walking zombies" living in horrible conditions completely against the nature of childhood. I could believe that the tears had probably dried up long ago, and would only come if he saw his mother again. Montgomery Clift portrays a realistic role in that, like most men of that era, he cannot make himself pick up the kid and just comfort him and that very fact makes the pain and suffering of the little boy all the more agonizing for the viewer to watch. I was very pleased to learn that Ivan received a special Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work in this film. I hope that throughout his short 50 years of life, this recognition gave him great personal joy, in spite of the political persecution brought against him in the past for having a part in the film.