Holocaust survivor Hans Muller (Kirk Douglas) arrives in the new country of Israel. Before the war, he was a juggler with a family but now he's alone as a refugee. He is terribly troubled and gets into a fight with a policeman. He is hunted by the police and befriends a young boy.
This reminds me of his son's movie Falling Down in that this character is broken. In that sense, Kirk is too powerful. The role needs someone more jittery and more flustered. It only happens in certain times. He's playing it like an on/off switch. It would have been great if his relationship with the boy could slowly return him to normal. He needs to start in a chaotic state and turn into a more steady state by the end. It is interesting to see PTSD being portrayed in an earlier movie. His clown work is very good and this is fairly compelling as a subject matter.
This reminds me of his son's movie Falling Down in that this character is broken. In that sense, Kirk is too powerful. The role needs someone more jittery and more flustered. It only happens in certain times. He's playing it like an on/off switch. It would have been great if his relationship with the boy could slowly return him to normal. He needs to start in a chaotic state and turn into a more steady state by the end. It is interesting to see PTSD being portrayed in an earlier movie. His clown work is very good and this is fairly compelling as a subject matter.