Triumph of the Spirit

Director: Robert M. Young, Robert M. Young, Robert M. Young, Robert M. Young, Robert M. Young, Robert M. Young

1989 / 120min / 35mm

The true story of the Jewish Greek boxer Salamo Arouch, an undefeated middleweight champion interned at Auschwitz where he kept himself and his family alive only by fighting fellow internees for the pleasure of his SS guards, is the basis for Young’s fourth teaming with Olmos, who gives an understated performance as the camp’s slippery black marketeer and fixer. The first film shot on location in Auschwitz, anchored by Willem Dafoe’s gripping, disciplined, and utterly committed performance as Arouch.