Thanks for the memories!

One of my all time favorites.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Hannah Stern (Kirsten Dunst) is a modern teen without much care for her Jewish ancestry. She's not that interested in the family Passover seder. Her aunt Eva (Louise Fletcher) knows that she could never understand. She goes back in time to 1941 Poland. She wakes up as Chaya who has been ill. She had traveled to attend her uncle's wedding. Her cousin Rivkah (Brittany Murphy) has been taking care of her. On the wedding day, the Nazis arrive to take everybody away. They struggle and work to build the prison camp. Ultimately Chaya takes Rivkah's place to the gas chamber. She wakes up to understand that Rivkah is her aunt Eva.The Holocaust has been done in many ways. I certainly understand the sincerity of this attempt. It's trying to connect young people with the past. I don't think this is done with well enough. Kirsten Dunst is a solid young actress but she doesn't have enough innocence. She should be shocked and bewildered. Also there is nothing new in the concentration camp. This is not a bad attempt. The idea has potential. Louise Fletcher is great but this doesn't quite make it.

(Second Hour's Review) "The Devil's Arithmetic" is heart-racing, historical fiction, stomach churning, and completely sorrowful movie. The movie, released in 1999, stars Kirsten Dunst as Hannah. Who is portrayed as a modern, city-girl who doesn't want to learn about her cultural history until she is forced. Director Donna Deitch does a phenomenal job exploring the plot in an emotional way. Hannah's experience starts by being taken from her Aunt Eva's, played by Louise Fletcher, Seder dinner and transferred back to the beginning of the Holocaust. Along the way she meets Rivkah, played by Brittany Murphy, and many others that help her get back home. For historical fiction, the "Devil's Arithmetic" was wonderful! I would give this film 4 out of 5 stars. I thought that the "Devil's Arithmetic" portrayed the Holocaust very well and very emotionally. The actors chosen for the film did a phenomenal job portraying the characters. The setting was realistic and very detailed. This movie is great at teaching young kids that family and remembering history and your culture is important. I believe that teens and young adults will be able to relate to Hannah's character and her journey. (6th Hour's Review) The holocaust was dreadful, filled with pain and anguish. Jane Yolen is a Jewish author that brought us a thrilling yet sad story, The Devil's Arithmetic, of an ordinary girl remembering the past. Since many of us are way too lazy to sit down and read a book the director took the liberty of making a movie of this fascinating novel.Directed by Donna Deitch, this 1999 filn stars Kirsten Dunst as Hannah Stern, Brittany Murphy as Rivkah, and Louise Fletcher as Aunt Eva. The documentary-like drama follows Hannah Stern, an American teenager who would much rather hang out with her friends then go to her family's Seder dinner, during Passover. She reluctantly comes home late and the family goes to their Aunt Eva's for the celebration. Hannah participates, but is very hesitant to be included in the family's customs. After the traditional dinner and wine drinking, she is chosen to open the door for the prophet Elijah and is transported into another world where she relives the Holocaust as a young Jewish girl in Poland. It is at this time her cousin Rivkah is introduced into the plot and the two experience the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp together. This film was exceptional on many levels. The casting was fantastic! Kristen Dunst and Brittany Murphy really portrayed the characters well. Giving this movie a solid 8 stars, I would recommend that you see it.

This was a very heartbreaking story of human beings, Children of God, being tortured on a daily basis by people without any souls and heartless beasts, called Nazi's. It is easy for the Nazi soldiers to say," Hitler told me to do it," but deep down in their own hearts they all knew it was wrong to treat any race or religion in this fashion. Kirsten Dunst, (Hannah Stern), "Elizabethtown",'05 played the role of a Jewish gal who had a mind of her own and wound up in a concentration camp in Poland and was placed in a camp for women only. Unfortunately, there is a baby born in this horrible place and the women did everything in the world to save the child's life. There is a scene which really shows how the Nazi's killed innocent beaten down human souls. A film you must tell the younger generation about and NEVER FORGET and never let anyone tell you it NEVER HAPPENED ! It sure DID !

While obviously this isn't a perfect education of the horrors of the Holocaust, it's not meant to be. This movie was based on a Young Adults' book, and it's transformed into a Young Adults' movie. It's not supposed to be a perfectly accurate portrayal, and it's not meant for historians or anything. But it is a touching film and excellent education for people to understand what it was like then. There are many powerful moments in the movie. A particularly impressive part, to me, was when Kirsten Dunst's character points to the number branded on her arm, and cries, "I wanted one of these!" referring to a tattoo. I think the highlight, however, was Brittany Murphy's incredible part. She was virtually unrecognizable, and her acting was superb. She literally threw herself into the part, and she shines. She truly is one of the greatest things about this movie.