54 | MAY 12 • 2022 

Yet life takes a different path for the boxer. Haft, after a hard loss to Marciano, 
retires from the sport. Haft and Wofsoniker eventually marry, yet Haft continues to 
live in the past, Leah on his mind. He’s haunted by nightmares that seem to grow 
worse with age. By the time his son, Alan (Kingston Vernes) is old enough to under-
stand, their relationship is already at stake, a tension forming. Wofsoniker tells her 
son, his father “will tell you when he’s ready,
” but Alan has questions that only Haft 
can truly answer.
Haft, now living in 1960s Florida, is faced with the ultimate test: to continue 
simply surviving or to wake up and make a choice to live. It’s a poignant and often 
heart-wrenching truth about surviving the Holocaust and the atrocities of World 
War II, with the horrors of that time period living with many for the rest of their 
lives. As Haft says goodbye to his past and puts memories of Leah to rest, he chooses 
to finally live. 

exists for Haft, but one that continues to overshad-
ow his present existence.
Throughout the film, we see increasing flash-
backs to Auschwitz and later the Polish work camp, 
Jaworzno, where we learn how Haft was forced to 
box as a means to survive. It was a form of enter-
tainment for the Nazi prison guards, who placed 
bets on Jewish inmates that resulted in bloody and 
deadly boxing matches. Haft, a favorite amongst 
the guards for his brute physical strength, fights his 
way to survival with only one mission in mind: to 
once again see his love, Leah.
The boxing matches, while full of unspeak-
able horrors, give Haft the strength to seek out 
freedom. After the camps are dissolved follow-
ing the advance of the Soviet Army, Haft, while 
on a death march to Germany, manages to 
escape in April 1945. He fights his way through 
Germany and later a displaced persons camp, 
finally arriving in New York in 1948 where he 
returns to the boxing ring with legends such as 
Rocky Marciano (Anthony Molinari).
While establishing a name for himself in 
the American boxing world, Haft continues 
to search for Leah, eventually crossing paths 
with Miriam Wofsoniker (Vicky Krieps), an 
employee of the Displaced Persons Service who 
helps immigrants reunite with missing friends 
and family torn apart by war. Like Haft, she has 
also experienced lost love, her fiancé killed in 
the war. At first, Haft is reluctant to open up, 
but eventually forms a bond with Wofsoniker, 
whose calming personality offsets his often 
aggressive fighting spirit.

Ben Foster, 
Billy Magnussen

PHOTOGRAPH BY LEO PINTER/HBO

John Leguizamo, Ben 
Foster, Paul Bates, 
Danny DeVito

PHOTOGRAPH BY JESSICA KOURKOUNIS/HBO

★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

continued from page 53

ARTS&LIFE
FILM REVIEW

