This movie first attracted me and made me want to see it because it was adapted from a real event. And this real event is full of incredible, perhaps this is where it captures people's hearts. The protagonist in the film has experienced a dark and terrible Nazi concentration camp, which only adds shock and makes people moved by his persistence.
The film mainly tells how the protagonist Giles, a Jew, changed his name to Reza, a Persian, taught the Nazi senior officer Koch in his own fake Persian without knowing Persian, and finally survived.
Reza's survival is tantamount to dancing on the tip of a knife every day, always on tenterhooks, and he may be found dead every day because he can't speak Persian. But with strong willpower and hope for life, he survived in the inhuman living environment of the concentration camp and touched people who knew his experience with his story.
This story happened in 1942 in France. The film begins with a person walking on a long railway track, and then a roster full of names is burning. This man, Gilles, fell into memories while walking, and the memories were pulled back to the car he was taken away by the Nazis. Trucks full of Jews are heading for the countryside. A hungry Jew in the car suggested that he change to a Persian book, which he got from the landlord's house when he ran away for Gilles' sandwich. Gilles finally agreed to the exchange. By the way, he learned how to say "Dad" in Persian from this Jew and got to know the Persian signature named Reza in the book.
The car stopped suddenly and all the Jews were dragged outside and shot. Do or die, Gilles begged not to kill him and told the Nazis that he was not a Jew, but a Persian, so the story began. Some things just happened. Koch, the head of the concentration camp and a senior Nazi officer, wanted to find someone who could speak Persian to teach him Persian, so Gilles was taken to Koch.
In order to make a living, Gilles used Reza's name in front of Koch, and started the fake Persia where Koch wanted to open a restaurant in Tehran in the future. Reza, who can only speak Persian "Dad", began to find ways to teach Persian in order to muddle through and face the suspicious Koch.
In the end, Reza took the names of the people killed in the concentration camp as the root of fake Persian, created fake Persian, and taught it to Koch, which won Koch's trust. Of course, during this period, I almost got caught, abused and almost died. But Reza saved the day and finally survived.
What moved me about this movie was that Reza didn't give up the last hope of survival. Compared with those Jews who have no hope of survival, Reza seems to be much luckier. But he is not desperate to survive.
There is a plot in which Reza decides to die for the brother of a prisoner who died trying to save him. Reza exchanged clothes with her younger brother and firmly followed other Jews on the road to death. How determined I am to live and how determined I am to die at this moment is touching.
Of course, Reza didn't die, but Koch saved him. During his years in Reza, Koch established a subtle friendship, which is also the reason why Koch saved Reza.
What moved me most about this movie was Reza's performance at the end of the film, which made people cry. When the allied generals asked about Reza's experience, they regretted that the list of victims in this concentration camp was burned by the Germans.
Reza told the generals that he remembered the names of 2840 victims. The general and the recorder were suspicious, so Reza began to name these names one by one. He thought they were all fake Persian roots. His face was serious and his eyes were full of tears. Everyone present was shocked by Reza, so they all stopped their work and listened to Reza's name with bated breath.
If Reza doesn't remember the names of these victims, these people really left no trace in the concentration camp, and their experiences will be buried forever. Reza used fake Persian to give different meanings to everyone's name. Some names represent hope, some names represent patience, and some names represent love ... It was Reza who left traces on these victims in this way. Perhaps this is also the reason why the director of Jewish descent decided to shoot the story of Reza (Gilles).
"Persian class" makes people see a glimmer of hope left in a land that is almost desperate, even if it is weak, it is enough to illuminate the gloomy road of life. Don't give up that glimmer of hope at any time, and give life a reason to persist. Perhaps, life is just ahead.